A Pilot Study Of The Effects Of Financial Diary Intervention On Financial Health For Economically Disadvantaged Families With Autism

The number of autistic groups in China is huge and they are in a disadvantaged position,and social work has the function and professional concept and service of helping the poor and the weak since its origin,as a special disadvantaged group,autistic families,especially autistic families with financial difficulties,ensuring their family economic security and maintaining their family financial health and financial well-being are issues that social work and even the whole society need to pay attention to together.It is necessary to enhance the financial health of their families through social work services.Numerous studies have found that support from the family has a positive effect on the rehabilitation of autistic groups,and the current high cost of treatment and rehabilitation is an important reason for families to suffer from expenditure poverty,coupled with the mental stress caused by long-term medical treatment and care for the child,which is difficult to bear even for families in good financial condition,let alone those who are already in financial difficulties.A family’s financial behavior,such as food,clothing,saving habits,and risk hedging,can directly or indirectly affect a family’s well-being.Thus,the stability of a family’s financial health(ability and confidence to handle the family’s daily financial affairs)will directly affect the financial security and stability of the whole family,which in turn affects the recovery of children with autism and the well-being of the whole family.Based on this,this study designed and conducted a financial diary intervention from a financial social work perspective,with the aim of testing the feasibility of the intervention and further optimizing it.The financial diary data of 32 families with autism who continuously participated in the financial diary program for 6 months and the family health foundation questionnaire were analyzed in terms of the four dimensions of family financial health.The pre and post measures of financial knowledge and skills,financial behaviors,financial attitudes,and financial health were conducted using scales with high reliability and validity before and after the intervention,and semi-structured interviews were conducted with them before and after the activity.The results showed that financial knowledge and skills of economically disadvantaged autistic families improved,financial behaviors improved significantly,financial attitudes continued to be maintained and optimized,and financial health improved somewhat through the financial diary intervention.Based on the results of the study,a better service plan to promote financial health of economically disadvantaged autistic families is designed from a social work perspective.We propose corresponding countermeasures,i.e.,in terms of policy practice,financial education is carried out through policy advocacy to eliminate financial exclusion of various disadvantaged and marginalized groups and further improve the overall financial health of society;at the micro level,through "Social Work + Finance",the development and service innovation of financial institutions and social organizations are promoted to provide better financial services for special At the micro level,social work empowers families,builds social support networks for families with autism,and provides precise and professional services that are better suited to the needs of families with autism through financial empowerment and expansion of financial service opportunities.