Resilient Grandparent Caregivers

The study of grandparents raising grandchildren, now almost two decades old, has tended to have a negative bias, emphasizing the difficulties such people face and the negative impact that grandparent caregiving has on them physically, socially, and emotionally. This edited book seeks to reverse this trend by taking a positive approach to understanding grandparent caregivers, focusing on their resilience and resourcefulness. This method reflects a strengths-based approach and the importance of benefit-finding and positive coping. Chapters feature information from both qualitative and quantitative studies and are written by a diverse range of professionals, such as counselors, psychologists, geriatric social workers, and nurse practitioners, to provide multidisciplinary persepctives for practitioners working with grandparent caregivers. Part one discusses the positive qualities that custodial grandparents possess – resilience, resourcefulness, and benefit finding. The second part considers the sociocultural aspects of resilience and resourcefulness in grandparent caregivers. Finally, part three presents strengths-based interventions for working with custodial grandparents. Practitioners will find this to be a valuable resource in their work and the field as a whole, stimulating positive changes in attitudes toward and practices with grandparent caregivers.

"Grandparents have been called the band-aids that bind the generations. The many chapters in this book attest to the strengths of these grandparents while describing the many challenges they face. It is a particularly useful resource for both practitioners and policy makers who seek to support this heroic group of caregivers." - Carole B. Cox, MSW, PhD, Professor of Social Work, Fordham University"This timely compilation of scholarly and practical knowledge about grandparents who are caregivers offers a valuable new perspective—both positive and hopeful—on this growing population. Resilient Grandparent Caregivers will be of great value to educators, social workers, counselors, nurses, psychologists, and all who work with older adults." - John Blando, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Counseling San Francisco State University"In Resilient Grandparent Caregivers: A Strengths-Based Perspective, the editors successfully challenge the decades-long negative bias that has emphasized the physical, mental, and emotional difficulties experienced by grandparents raising their grandchildren. This volume presents a contemporary, fresh perspective of grandparent caregivers with a focus on their resilience and resourcefulness. The editors present a collection of multidisciplinary research in the area of grandparent caregiving that accentuates what grandparent caregivers are doing right and how they are coping positively and growing from the experience of raising a grandchild." Christen Smith, PhD, Activities, Adaptation & Aging, 39:177–181, 2015

Bert Hayslip, Jr., PhD, is a professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas. Gregory C. Smith, PhD, is a professor and the director of the Human Development Center at Kent State University.