Friday, December 9, 2011

Blog #11

In class, we discussed the role that some grandparents have raising grandchildren. The first thing that went through my mind is that raising children is hard and takes a lot of time and energy. I am a student with a health background so these discussions got me curious to if this action is beneficial to the health of the grandparent. I decided to do some research on the topic and came across an article titled "The Health of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Results of a National Study". In the review of literature the author of the article state that previous research has suggested that caregiving grandparents are vulnerable to a host of problems including depression, social isolation and poverty. The main study of the article has several findings. It found that custodial grandparents were significantly more likely than non caregiving grandparents to report limitations in each of these six areas: mobility inside the house, completing daily household tasks, climbing stairs, walking 6 blocks, doing heavy tasks, and working for pay. In fact, the study found that three out of ten caregivers had trouble doing their day-t0-day household tasks.


Questions to consider for the class


Do you find these findings to be surprising or are they results that you would expect?

Do you think that with people living longer, this will continue to be a problem as we head into the future?

Do you think that modern advancements such as medicine or technology can aid in this child rearing?

As family study students, what can be done to help future grandparents out in this burden?


2 comments:

  1. I did not find these results to be surprising. Looking back to one of the current events about child free men vs. men with children, men with children reported more health concerns than did child free men. Taking this into consideration, grandparents may experience the same effects that men with children do. Especially in old age, grandparents may not be able to handle the emotional or physical stress that comes with keeping up with a young or adolescent child. Children are very demanding and considering the health concerns older people already face, I am sure children can only amplify them.

    I do think this will continue to be a problem as we head into the future. Hopefully in the future, parents will be alive and responsible enough to take care of their own children themselves. If grandparents need to take care of their grandchildren, I hope healthcare improves so that they may be able to do so in a better way than they are now. Perhaps with better healthcare, older adults will be better fit to endure the stress and strain of raising a child if need be.

    Yes, modern advancements can absolutely aid in childrearing for the reason discussed above with health concerns but also in other ways. Resources will be more accessible to the general population. People will hopefully be healthier longer, therefore, better able to provide for their families.

    Future generation need to keep in mind all of the responsibilities that come with being a parent and really plan before having a child. We can consider our parents resources, but they should not become the providers for our children unless it is absolutely necessary.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think that all these disadvantages and areas of limitation has to do with the fact that grandparents by nature are not primary caregivers for the children. As we all understand grandparents become primary caregivers only in unforeseen circumstances, for example parents' death or incarceration. By nature they are not physically and emotionally ready to be parents "the second time" and instead of doing what other people their age are doing (relaxing, taking care of their health problems, socializing, traveling), they are choosing schools, doing homework with grandchildren, and cook 3 times a day.

    ReplyDelete