2017 ANNUAL MEETING SOUTHERN GERONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY April 6-9, Asheville, NC
https://southerngerontologicalsociety.org/sgs-annual-meeting/
SYMPOSIUM: Marshaling Social Support for Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren
Organizers: Julian Montoro-Rodriguez & Bert Hayslip
ABSTRACT
The U.S. Census Bureau (2010) estimates that more than 1.6 million children in America are being raised primarily by grandparents, often as a result of the death, incarceration or incapacitation of the child’s parents. Caregiving is psychologically, emotionally and physical challenging; and caregiving grandparents often report more functional health problems and chronic disease incidence than non-caregiving peers. There is consistent evidence that the perception of available support is linked to health and emotional well-being; but many grandmothers may not be able to receive the support they need since their own families are not fully functional and able to support them. Using the Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC) framework (Freund & Baltes, 1989) and socio-cognitive strategies we developed a program to assess the grandmothers’ supportive needs and to empower them to reduce their stress, improve their communication skills and satisfaction with social support. This symposium a) describes the main components of the proposed intervention; b) presents data from 19 grandmothers who attended the four weekly sessions with individual facilitators during the past months; c) reports on the effectiveness of the intervention in decreasing the grandmother’s stress; and d) discusses the its benefits to empower grandmothers to improve their psychological adjustment and take care of their needs. Powerpoint Presentation – Intro
PAPERS
1. Conceptual framework, goals, and methodology used to developed a program for grandmothers raising grandchildren (Anjana Nagrajan, UNC Charlotte) Powerpoint Presentation
2. Socio-demographic, health and social support characteristics of grandmothers enrolled in the study (Maryam Kazempour-Esmati, UNC Charlotte) Powerpoint Presentation
3. Communication Styles and Goal Setting Strategies to enhance grandmothers’ ability to obtain help. (Katie Kutcher, UNC Charlotte) Powerpoint Presentation
4. The impact of the intervention on grandmothers’ stress and satisfaction with social support (Julian Montoro-Rodriguez & Bert Hayslip, UNC Charlotte) Powerpoint Presentation