The Effect of Health Belief Model-Based Disaster Education for Parents of Children With Special Needs on General Disaster Preparedness Beliefs and Disaster Preparedness Levels

September 3, 2026 updated by: Gulsum Asan, Ataturk University
This study aims to evaluate the effect of a Health Belief Model (HBM)-based disaster education program on general disaster preparedness beliefs and disaster preparedness levels among parents of children with special needs. Children with special healthcare and developmental needs are particularly vulnerable during disasters, and parental readiness plays a critical role in mitigating risks. The study is designed as a quasi-experimental (or randomized controlled) interventional trial with an intervention and a control group to determine whether structured, model-based training improves preparedness behaviors and disaster beliefs among parents.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study is conducted between September 2026 and October 2026 at the Ozel Mavi Special Education and Rehabilitation Center in Diyarbakir, Turkey. The center consists of two separate service buildings within the same campus, providing individualized and group special education services for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, specific learning disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and speech/language impairments.

Parents are recruited during their children's active educational sessions. Participants are allocated into intervention and control groups. The intervention group receives a structured, 5-week Health Belief Model-based disaster preparedness training program, while the control group receives routine follow-up (or standard institutional guidance).

Outcome assessments include baseline (pre-test) measurements and post-intervention (post-test) evaluations conducted after the completion of the 5-week educational program. Primary outcomes measure participants' general disaster preparedness beliefs and objective disaster preparedness levels.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

80

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Being between 18 and 65 years of age
  • Being a parent or primary caregiver of a child with special health care needs
  • Having received no prior formal training or education on disaster preparedness
  • Having adequate communication skills to conduct interviews (e.g., having no severe hearing or speech impairments)
  • Volunteering to participate and providing written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having a diagnosed mental/psychiatric disorder prior to or during the study period

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention Group
Parents receive a structured Health Belief Model (HBM)-based disaster education program along with routine follow-up.
Behavioral: Health Belief Model -Based Disaster Education
A 5-week structured disaster preparedness education program based on the Health Belief Model, covering disaster risks, preparedness behaviors, individual emergency planning, and safety measures tailored for parents of children with special needs.
No Intervention: Control Group
Parents receive standard care/routine follow-up during the study period. To ensure ethical standards, the Health Belief Model-based disaster education program is delivered to this group after all post-test data collection is completed.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in General Disaster Preparedness Beliefs Scale Score
Time Frame: Baseline (pre-test) and 5 weeks after the intervention (post-test)
Assessed using the General Disaster Preparedness Beliefs Scale based on the Health Belief Model. Evaluates perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy regarding disaster preparedness. Higher scores indicate higher preparedness beliefs.
Baseline (pre-test) and 5 weeks after the intervention (post-test)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Disaster Preparedness Level Score
Time Frame: aseline (pre-test) and 5 weeks after the intervention (post-test)
Assessed using the Disaster Preparedness Scale to evaluate physical and cognitive preparedness behaviors, emergency planning, and safety precautions among parents. Higher scores indicate higher readiness levels.
aseline (pre-test) and 5 weeks after the intervention (post-test)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Ataturk University

Investigators

  • Study Director: Sonay Bilgin, PhD,Assoc.Prof, Ataturk University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 30, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

November 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 3, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 3, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

September 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 3, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • TDK-2025-15369

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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