| Summary: | This study examined the relationship between parents of children with learning disabilities and healthcare professionals providing services to them. Parents were asked to name the most and least helpful professional they had experienced contact with in relation to their child with learning disabilities and rate them using an adapted version of the Helping Behaviour Checklist (HBCL-A) (Cournoyer and Johnson, 1991). An adapted version of the Providers Beliefs About Parents Questionnaire (PBAP-A) (Johnson et al, 1994) measured the degree to which professionals endorsed a collaborative approach towards working with parents of children with learning disabilities across blame, inform, validate and instruct factors. The extent to which these professionals' beliefs on the PBAP-A influenced parents choice of most and least helpful professional was examined. Further analyses investigated whether other characteristics of professionals or characteristics of the family influenced parents choice and rating on the HBCL-A of most and least helpful professionals. Parents choice of the most and least helpful professional was not found to be influenced by professionals' beliefs on the PBAP-A. Parents were more likely to name the professional as most helpful than least if they understood their role, had a larger number of contacts and ongoing contact with them, and had a greater degree of congruence with professionals' beliefs on the instruct factor of the PBAP-A. HBCL-A ratings of most helpful professionals were correlated with parents' age and factors concerning parental stress, support and child's behaviour. HBCL-A ratings of least helpful professionals were correlated with parents' beliefs about parents on the validate factor. Implications for service provision were discussed.
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