Nursing intervention program for caregivers regarding care of intellectual disabled children: quasi-experimental study

Introduction Caregivers of children with intellectual disability face significant challenges in meeting their care needs due to limited knowledge and inadequate training. Structured nursing interventions may enhance caregivers’ competencies and improve health outcomes for children with intellectual disability. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of the nursing intervention program for caregivers regarding the care of children with intellectual disability in an institutional setting in Cairo, Egypt. Methods A quasi-experimental one-group pretest–posttest design was conducted with 62 caregivers of children with intellectual disabilities in an institutional setting in the Ain Shams district, Cairo, Egypt. Participants were recruited using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected from caregivers using a questionnaire covering socio-demographic characteristics as well as caregivers’ knowledge and practices related to dealing with intellectual disabled children. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 27. Result The mean age of caregivers of intellectual disabled children was 34.14 ± 3.09 years, 77.4% of them were female, and 90.3% were diploma educational level. Regarding the total satisfactory level of knowledge, 8.1% of them had a satisfactory level of knowledge in preprogram and that increased to 90.3% in post program, also, the total good reported practice in pre-program was 9.7% and that increased to 96.7% in post program. These improvements were statistically significant (knowledge: X 2  = 56.89, p  = 0.000; practices: X 2  = 14.401, p  = 0.000). Conclusion The structured nursing intervention program significantly improved caregivers’ knowledge and reported care practices for children with intellectual disabilities. These findings demonstrate that even caregivers with limited formal education can achieve substantial competency gains through targeted, institution-based educational programs. Integrating such training into routine institutional care frameworks is recommended to enhance the quality of care and health outcomes for children with intellectual disabilities in similar resource-limited settings.