Grandparent Caregivers Research Articles

Personal and Community Empowerment for Grandparent Caregivers

This article describes an empowerment training program that the author developed for grandparent caregivers. The program consists of 14 classes that focus on empowering grandparents, within the family and in the community. It strengthens their parenting skills, feelings of competency, and ability to advocate in the community for their own needs. Social workers play important roles as facilitators in the learning process, helping grandparents to recognize their own strengths and capabilities. As grandparents become empowered, they also become strong role models for the children they are raising.

The Contextual Experiences of Rural Custodial Grandparents and Opportunities for Social Work

Rural custodial grandparents have been understudied. As the grandparent caregiving population increases, more attention is needed to understand custodial grandparents in rural settings. This article explores the state of knowledge of the experiences of rural grandparents. A systematic review of the caregiving literature is conducted to understand the issues affecting this caregiving population. The results suggest that rural grandparents often are minority grandmothers with limited resources who provide care to older grandchildren in isolated environments. Attention is given to the social ecological framework as one model that can help to inform how social workers intervene with this population. Recommendations are offered for social work research, practice, and policy.

The Health of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Literature Review

Around the world, an increasing number of grandparents are raising grandchildren in households without a biological parent. This is no less true in the United States, where grandparents raising grandchildren are at increased risk for depression and declining physical health. The purpose of this article is to explore the recent literature as it relates to the psychological and/or physical health of grandparents raising grandchildren. On reviewing 19 articles from the past 10 years, it is clear that the literature consistently verifies the health risks, especially depression, for grandparents raising grandchildren; however, the lack of research regarding grandfathers and non-African American caregivers is apparent. The factors influencing grandparents raising grandchildren are numerous, which calls for care providers to assess the needs, situations, and perceptions of grandparents individually. Finally, a need has arisen for more research suggesting and validating interventions that health care providers can use to support this population of older adults.

Influence of Perceived Health, Parental Stress, and Social Support on Quality of Life in Grandparent Caregivers

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among perceived health, parental stress, social support, and quality of life of grandparent caregivers and to identify the factors influencing quality of their life. Methods: A descriptive correlational design was used. The data were collected by questionnaires from a convenience sample of 130 participants taking care of their grandchildren from ten children’s daycare centers in Seoul, Korea from August to September, 2013. Data were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson’s correlation efficients, and multiple regressions. Results: Perceived health, parental stress and social support were correlated significantly with quality of life. As a result of the multiple regression analysis, education level, age of grandchildren, perceived health, parental stress and social support accounted for 48% of the variance in quality of life. Perceived health, parental stress, and social support were identified as factors influencing quality of life and the variable that most affected quality of life was perceived health. Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that health of people taking care of their grandchildren must be promoted while relieving their parental stress with appropriate social support in order to improve quality of life.

Making Sense of Intergenerational Closeness and Distance: The Case of Grandparent Caregivers in Uganda

Making Sense of Intergenerational Closeness and Distance: The Case of Grandparent Caregivers in Uganda

The Burden of Grandparenting among Chinese older adults in the Greater Chicago area—The PINE Study

Grandparent caregiving responsibilities influence feelings of burden in many older adults. Though grandparenting is traditionally seen as a rewarding experience for Chinese older adults, some research has pointed to the possibility of grandparenting burden in Chinese older adults in the U.S. However, there is a paucity of research concerning prevalence of grandparenting burden in Chinese older adults. This study aims to provide an overall estimate on grandparenting burden and examine its correlations with socio-demographic characteristics, self-reported health data, and time spent caring for grandchildren. Data was collected through the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (PINE) study. This community-based participatory research study surveyed a total of 3,159 Chinese older adults aged 60 and above, 2,146 of whom have grandchildren. We used four questions on a Likert-scale to determine levels of grandparenting burden. Our study found 22% of our participants who are grandparents experience grandparenting burden. Younger age (r = 0.12), living with four or more people (r = 0.09), lower overall health status (r = 0.09), lower quality of life (r = 0.09), and more time spent caring for grandchildren (r = 0.37) were correlated with grandparenting burden. Our findings show that grandparenting is not a necessarily rewarding experience for Chinese older adults, and that certain subsets of the population are more likely to experience grandparenting burden. Future longitudinal research should be conducted to determine causality as well the psychological, physical, and social effects of grandparenting burden.

“How Can You Retire When You Still Got a Kid in School?”: Economics of Raising Grandchildren in Rural Areas

Increasingly, grandparents are being called on to rear their grandchildren when parents are unable or unwilling to fulfill their parenting role. These grandparent caregivers often find themselves in an economic bind. Financially, most are at a stage in life where they are looking toward retirement and reduced family spending and are unprepared for their new economic reality as second-time-around caregivers. Here, we use a framework of family financial well-being to examine the economic consequences of rearing grandchildren. Based on family life interviews with 26 grandfamilies residing in Montana, we explore the challenges grandparents experience generating and shifting income streams in later life, the variability in received income, and the array of expected and unexpected expenses incurred as a result of taking in their grandchildren. As custodial grandparents strive for financial well-being, there are few resources—especially in rural areas—to help them navigate these new financial waters.

Grandmas' hands rocked the cradle

A considerable number of women find themselves serving as surrogate parents for their grandchildren. This issue is particularly salient for African-American women. This article highlights the experiences of African-American grandmothers who are rearing their grandchildren in a rural southern community. Data collection included in-depth interviewing, observation, and document review. Findings from the study underscore the need for policy makers and practitioners to understand the structural and cultural context in which grandparent caregiving occurs. Grandmothers serving as surrogate parents should have access to a comprehensive array of services some of which include financial, psychological, medical, and legal services. In addition to these services grandparent caregivers should be empowered to engage in activities which encourage support and self-care. Study findings generate ideas that will be of interest to those responsible for practice and policy decisions. • Study examines experiences of African-American grandmothers parenting grandchildren. • Data collection included in-depth interviewing, observation, and document review. • Narrative analysis was used to analyze the data. • Grandparents serving as surrogate parents in rural communities have unique needs.

Grandparents Caregivers' Perceptions of Emotional Distress and Well-Being

Grandparents often become the primary caregivers for their grandchild(ren) with little or no prior notice. This familial change and added responsibility raises a number of concerns related to the overall emotional well-being for grandparent caregivers. Qualitative research using focus groups and face-to-face interviews with grandparent caregivers (N = 15) was conducted to better understand their perceptions of well-being in the context of raising grandchildren. Major themes identified included setting limits with adult children, responding to grandchildren's trauma, and resilience. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Understanding Collaborative Efforts to Assist Grandparent Caregivers: A Multileveled Perspective

It is well known that grandparent caregivers often experience increased stress and strain as a result of raising grandchildren. Although specific interventions utilizing support groups, mental health counseling, educational programming, and respite care can be useful in supporting grandparents, collaborative efforts toward building partnerships among the community, service providers, and grandparents have even greater potential to assist grandparent caregivers in meeting their needs. Using the ecological perspective as a guiding framework, in this article the authors discuss contemporary programs while highlighting strategies to support grandparents raising grandchildren. These programs provide unique and innovative ways professionals can reach grandparents raising grandchildren.

Assessing Attitudes toward Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren

This article describes the assessment of attitudes toward grandparent caregivers held by noncaregiving grandparents. Six hundred two grandparents not currently caring for grandchildren completed an 18-item measure of such attitudes. This attitude scale was both internally consistent and multidimensional in nature. Attitudes were more positive for grandparents reporting previous experience caring for a grandchild and such attitudes were in part predicted by one's attitudes toward the current grandparent role, which was also complex in nature. Being able to assess and understand attitudes toward custodial grandparents can contribute to the reduction of others' biases about them and may influence grandparents' future willingness to assume the caregiving role.

Impact of Caring for Grandchildren on the Health of Grandparents in Taiwan

To understand how caring for grandchildren affects the physical and mental health of grandparents in Taiwan. Grandparents aged 50 and older from 4 waves of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (1993-2003, n = 3,711) were divided into 7 categories based on living arrangement and caregiving history. Generalized estimation equations controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and disease status were used to estimate the relationship between caregiving and 4 outcomes: self-rated physical health, mobility limitation, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms. Compared with noncaregivers, long-term multigenerational caregivers were more likely to report better self-rated health, higher life satisfaction, and fewer depressive symptoms. We found some evidence of reduced mobility limitations for both skipped-generation and nonresidential caregivers relative to noncaregivers. The associations in self-rated health and depressive symptoms were more pronounced in long-term caregivers than among those who recently started caregiving. Improvements in self-rated health and mobility associated with caregiving support our hypothesis that caring for grandchildren can be beneficial for grandparents in Taiwan, especially for long-term multigenerational caregivers. Comparing Taiwanese grandparents across different types of caregiving shows that the associations of grandparent caregiving with health vary by living arrangement and duration. However, these findings may not be causal because caregiving and health outcomes were observed simultaneously in our data.

Subsidized Child Care by Grandparents: Profiles of Caregivers in an Emerging Public Service Context

Grandparents have become an important source of subsidized noncustodial child care provision as states have developed child care subsidy programs for working families. Based on a sample of 140 grandparents providing care in one state subsidy program, this article examines grandparent characteristics, caregiving patterns, experiences with care provision, and training and resource needs in this emerging public service context. Our findings indicate that grandparents provide care largely for altruistic reasons. They offer vital care during nontraditional work hours and are more receptive to training provision than often is understood. Based on study findings, several strategies are presented for supporting subsidized grandparent caregivers.

The Beneficial Effects of Senior Center Attendance on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects of attendance at a senior center on the well-being and quality of life of grandparents raising grandchildren. Grandparents (N = 130) who were raising grandchildren completed a self-administered demographic data survey, an attendance at a senior center questionnaire, and measures of quality of life, well-being, loneliness, caregiver burden, and satisfaction. A MANOVA suggested that senior center attendance impacted the previously mentioned measures as a set. Subsequent one-way ANOVAs revealed that attendance at a senior center positively impacted grandparent caregivers' quality of life, caregiver burden, well-being, and role satisfaction. These findings indicate that grandparents who are raising minor grandchildren can indeed benefit from services offered through senior centers. They also underscore the challenges that remain in educating grandparent caregivers about the potential of senior centers to support them in raising their grandchildren.

Fictions and Facts about Parents and Parenting Older First-Time Entrants to Foster Care

Knowledge about the parents of older first-time entrants into foster care is embedded in fictions created by media images, anecdotal stories of professionals in the child welfare system, as well as reports and observations of youths who have experienced foster care. Even though there are caring and effective nonrelatives who are foster parents, the public perception of non-relative foster parents is sometimes quite negative. In order to separate some of the facts from some of the fictions about the parents/caregivers of older first-time entrants to foster care, this article will describe the parents and relative caregivers (grandparents and others) of older first-time entrants to foster care in an urban public welfare agency by examining maltreatment data.

The use of home-based caregiver assessment to improve children’s health: a pilot project

Background: Grandparents Raising and Nurturing Dependents with Disabilities (Project GRANDD) is a support program for grandparents who are the primary caregivers of grandchildren with developmental disabilities, chronic illness, and behavior or learning difficulties. A critical problem contributing to diminished quality of life for the family is the grandparents’ own poor health, as well as the lack of access to available resources. This project pairs nursing students from the local university with grandparents participating in the GRANDD support program to improve the caregiving grandparents’ health. Methods: A total of 12 nurse practitioner (NP) students were paired with six grandparents. Students performed home visits and assessments, health histories, environmental assessments, and windshield surveys over the course of several weeks. Follow-up visits for medication reconciliation, referral to resources, or for patient health education were conducted in person or via phone. Results: The grandparents’ demographic characteristics were as follows: African American females, on fixed incomes on or near poverty level, had multiple co-morbidities, and showed reluctance in seeking help because of their role as primary caretaker. Nursing students demonstrated increased awareness of the cycle of disability and disadvantage, and improved skills that enable them to aid vulnerable individuals in accessing community resources. Conclusions: This pilot program had a positive impact on students and grandparents. Much is needed regarding outcome measurement and standardization of methods, but the initial results demonstrated a beneficial relationship between NP students and Project GRANDD participants, thus contributing to the ongoing effort to break the cycle of disadvantage and disability in this vulnerable population.

Guardians of Generations: African American Grandparent Caregivers for Children of HIV/AIDS Infected Parents

Guardians of Generations: African American Grandparent Caregivers for Children of HIV/AIDS Infected Parents

The Needs and Use of Programs by Service Providers Working With Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Grandparents who raise grandchildren often need support services. Yet, little is known about what service providers' need in order to better serve grandparents. As a result, qualitative methods were used to understand service providers' views about programs and services they use when assisting grandparents raising grandchildren. We conducted telephone interviews with professional service providers (N=16) from agencies serving grandparents. Data were transcribed verbatim and transcripts were analyzed using an inductive, constant comparison approach. Findings revealed two themes reflecting the types of services and support mechanisms providers' use with grandparent caregivers and providers' needs and recommendations to better serve grandparent caregivers. Participants fully supported continual funding for the Kinship Care System Navigator position and discussed the importance of community providers sharing a common voice and working together. It is important that professionals who serve grandparent caregivers are knowledgeable and willing to collaborate with other providers to meet grandparents' needs.

A Comparative Review of Grandparent Care of Children in the U.S. and China

This study explores the phenomenon of grandparent caregiving in two different cultural contexts, the U.S. and China. We begin with an overview of the evolution of grandparent caregiving in the U.S., including the strengths and service needs of this population. We then provide background information on left-behind children and grandparents in rural China. With this group in mind, we review a range of evidence-based practices, programs, and policies that have been implemented to support grandparent caregiving in the U.S. Keeping in mind the similarities and differences between the two societies, we conclude with recommendations for adapting these interventions to the Chinese context. This comparative approach furthers our knowledge of how families in diverse contexts around the world are adapting to the challenges of grandparent caregiving and contributes to the building of a core evidence base for interventions.

Intensity of Grandparent Caregiving and Life Satisfaction Among Rural Chinese Older Adults

This study examined how life satisfaction and grandparent caregiving intensity changed over time among rural Chinese older adults, and whether there was a leading predictor between grandparent caregiving intensity and life satisfaction. Using 4 waves of data from the Well-being of Elderly in Anhui Province of China (N = 1704), we applied latent difference score analysis to explore this relationship. Results indicated that grandparent caregiving intensity decreased and life satisfaction increased over time. There was a lagged effect between grandparent caregiving intensity and life satisfaction, and life satisfaction demonstrated a leading prediction role between these 2 variables. This study confirmed the potentially rewarding aspect of grandparent caregiving, which may lead to greater life satisfaction. The results also revealed that psychological well-being among grandparents is very important for performing activities, such as caregiving.