Positive Health Behavior Changes in Custodial Grandparents and Grandchildren Following an Intervention

Abstract

Background: Custodial grandparents experience greater physical health declines and higher rates of depression than their same-age peers who do not provide care, and grandchildren in grandfamilies often have behavior problems. However, few researchers have explored the impact of self-care education on decreasing these negative outcomes. Our study examined how a self-care and life-skills intervention influenced health behavior change in a sample of grandparents and grandchildren. Methods: Data were collected during eleven focus groups (and two interviews) with 55 grandparents, and one focus group with five grandchildren, at 6 months after the 6-week intervention detailed in this paper. Grandparents ranged in age from 46 to 84 years old (M = 62.19, SD = 8.24). Participating grandchildren ranged in age from 9 to 12 years old. Focus group transcripts were coded for content related to grandparents’ and grandchildren’s positive behavior changes following the intervention. Findings: Grandparents reported taking more time for themselves, reducing negative self-talk, increasing healthy physical choices, and having better communication skills after participating in the intervention. Similarly, grandchildren reported increased confidence in making friends, making good decisions, and getting along with others. Findings suggest that a self-care and life skills program show promise for improving the health and wellness of grandfamilies.

How Do Changes in the Family Structure and Dynamics Reflect on Health

“…Carrere et al revealed that a communal or cooperative family structure could enhance health and well-being mediated by psychosocial determinants of health 36 . In contrast, the grandparent-headed family structure appears to lead to greater physical health declines and higher rates of depression among grandparents caring for grandchildren than their peers who are not primary caregivers of grandchildren 37 . Although studies suggest that caring for grandchildren in a grandparent-headed family structure can negatively affect grandparents' health, Rapoport et al observed that grandparents who care for their children seem to cope with parenting just as well as parents 18 .…”

Strength and Resilience for Kinship Caregivers Raising Children: A Scoping Review

“…For example, Ruiz's study (2008) used focus groups [53], while Dolbin-MacNab et al's study (2021) [54] and Lee et al's study (2015) [55] used interviews. Marken et al's study (2010) utilized both interviews and videos [56], three studies combined focus groups and interviews [57][58][59], and two studies used alternative data collection methods such as the photovoice methodology [60] and interaction reports from help lines [61]. All the three mixed method articles [62][63][64] used descriptive data analysis to describe the sample, and qualitative data analysis to explore the factors contributing to kinship caregivers' resilience.…”

“…Additionally, kinship caregivers used other methods such as having shared festive leisure with the children to manage their stress, which further brought benefits for them, including increased creativity, improved physical condition, happiness, better relationship with children, and new manual and technical skills [46,58]. Fox et al (2022) developed an intervention aimed at improving kinship caregivers' self-care skills [47]. Fox et al (2022) and Fruhauf et al (2022) found that when using self-care to cope with stress, caregiver's self-efficacy improved [47,58].…”

“…Fox et al (2022) developed an intervention aimed at improving kinship caregivers' self-care skills [47]. Fox et al (2022) and Fruhauf et al (2022) found that when using self-care to cope with stress, caregiver's self-efficacy improved [47,58]. With improved stress-coping skills and abilities, kinship caregivers found it easier to address the challenges brought by raising the children.…”

Grandparents with different health statuses as primary caregivers: Are they bad for children's health?

“…A lack of effective communication may further intensify conflicts and their consequences (Hoang et al, 2020). Most studies have found that children raised mainly by grandparents tend to report deteriorating health compared with those cared for by parents (Fan et al, 2010; Hong & Zeng, 2022; Joshi & Lebrun‐Harris, 2022; Liu et al, 2018; Pilkauskas & Dunifon, 2016; Ruiz & Silverstein, 2007; Xu et al, 2022), but exceptions have also been documented (Fruhauf et al, 2022; Pong & Chen, 2010; Tanskanen & Danielsbacka, 2017). For example, a cross‐sectional study conducted in Taiwan reported that children mainly cared for by grandparents achieved higher cognitive scores (Pong & Chen, 2010).…”