Adopting the Caregiver Role: A Family Legacy^*

Abstract

A qualitative study was done to investigate how adult children become caregivers to older parents with functional impairments and what roles their own children adopt in their family's care arrangements. In-depth interviews with 43 members of 15 families revealed 5 influences on children and grandchildren's adoption of caregiver roles: expectations, family rules, religious training, role modeling and role making. Further analysis of families with grandchild participants showed considerable variation both between and within families in how and what kinds of eldercare roles were adopted. These results can be used by family life educators interested in creating parent-care education programs.

Grandchildren's Perceptions of Caring for Grandparents

“…When grandchildren caregivers are included in research studies, they are typically included with other caregivers (e.g., Beach, 1997;Dellman-Jenkins et al, 2000;Piercy & Chapman, 2001;Shaw et al, 1997); therefore, the unique experiences of grandchildren caregivers cannot be ascertained.…”

“…Previous caregiving research (e.g., Dellmann-Jenkins, Blankemeyer,& Pinkard, 2000;Hodgson, 1987;Piercy & Chapman, 2001) informs the understanding of this grandchild caregiving situation, yet a unique approach (e.g., experience of intergenerational relationship and the life stage and cohort of grandchild caregivers) still must also be considered in order to fully understand the experiences of grandchildren within the context of caregiving. Grandchildren who are providing care to grandparents can best be studied using the life-span development and life course perspectives while taking into account the meaning behind their experiences and relationships with grandparents prior to and during the caregiving experience.…”

“…Whether grandchildren wake up one day to find that they are now providing care to a grandparent or they gradually move into the caregiving role (Piercy & Chapman, 2001), there are likely to be implications of the caregiving relationship for the individual development of the grandchild. Furthermore, the ability of grandchildren to respond to the life event may play a role in how the caregiving experience influences their individual development.…”

“…The participants in Beach's (1997) study experienced numerous positive outcomes to providing care to someone with Alzheimer's disease (e.g., increase in positive sibling interactions, increased understanding for aging process and attitudes about aging, positive relationships with peers, and increase in dialogue with parents). Piercy and Chapman (2001) provided an introduction to the differences and similarities associated with how caregiving roles of family members (i.e. the adult-child and their children) are influenced.…”

“…The researcher did occasionally separate participants' relationship to the care receiver in the results section; she did not, however, separate grandchildren caregivers from other young adolescent caregivers during her discussion. Furthermore, Piercy and Chapman's (2001) exploration of adopting the caregiving role was examined through the perspective of the entire family unit. The small number of grandchildren and grandchildren-in-law (N = 11) participating in the study and the lack of exploration of the individual grandchild experiences limit the results to solely inform our understanding of grandchildren caregivers because its focus on the entire family unit.…”