There is an increasing prevalence in the United States of intergenerational surrogate parenting. In fact, grandmother-headed households that include grandchildren without their parents are the fastest growing intergenerational surrogate family combination. This article reviews the intergenerational surrogate family phenomenon relative to its impact on the grandmothers’ health and offers resources and implications for nursing.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Brady, B.
, & Nies, M. A. (1999). Health-promoting lifestyles and exercise: A comparison of older African American women above and below poverty level. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 17(2), 197-207.
2.
Caliandro, G.
, & Hughes, C. (1998). The experience of being a grandmother who is the primary caregiver for her HIV-positive grandchild. Nursing Research, 47(2), 107-113.
3.
Casper, L. M.
, & Bryson, K. R. (1998). Co-resident grandparents and their grandchildren: Grandparent maintained families (Population Division Working Paper No. 26). Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
4.
Centers for Disease Control—National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention—Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention
. (1999, July 31). HIV/AIDS prevention. Retrieved October 16, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/hivinfo/vfax/260210.htm.
5.
Dunn, K. S.
, & Horgas, A. L. (2000). The prevalence of prayer as a spiritual self-care modality in elder years. Journal of Holistic Nursing, 18(4), 337-351.
6.
Fuller-Thomson, E.
, & Minkler, M. (2000). African American grandparents raising grandchildren: A national profile of demographic and health characteristics. Health & Social Work, 25(2), 109-118.
7.
Fuller-Thomson, E.
, Minkler, M., & Driver, D. (1997). A profile of grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States. Gerontologist, 37(3), 406-411.
8.
Goldberg-Glen, R.
, Sands, R. G., Cole, R. D., & Cristofalo, C. (1998). Multigenerational patterns and internal structures in families in which grandparents raise grandchildren. Families in Society, 79(5), 477-489.
9.
Haglund, K.
(2000). Parenting a second time around: An ethnography of African American grandmothers parenting grandchildren due to parental cocaine abuse. Journal of Family Nursing, 6(2), 120-135.
10.
Joslin, D.
, & Brouard, A. (1995). The prevalence of grandmothers as primary caregivers in a poor pediatric population. Journal of Community Health, 20(5), 383-401.
11.
Kelley, S. H.
(1993). Caregiver stress in grandparents raising grandchildren. Image, 25(4), 331-337.
12.
La Croix, A. Z.
, Newton, K. M., Leveille, S. G., & Wallace, J. (1997). Healthy aging: A women’s issue. In: Successful Aging. Western Journal of Medicine, 167, 220-232.
13.
Lugaila, T. A. (1998). Marital status and living arrangements: March 1998 update (Report No. P20-514). Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census.
14.
Minkler, M.
, & Fuller-Thomson, E. (1999). The health of grandparents raising grandchildren: Results of a national study. American Journal of Public Health, 89(9), 1384-1389.
15.
National Institutes of Health
(1999, November 5). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Pregnancy and drug use trends. [Infofax]. Bethesda, MD: Author. Retrieved October 16, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://165.112.78.61/Infofax/pregnancytrends/html.
16.
Roe, K. M.
, & Minkler, M. (1995). Combining research, advocacy, and education: The methods of the grandparent caregiver study. Health Education Quarterly, 22(4), 458-476.
17.
Sands, R. G.
, & Goldberg-Glen, R. S. (2000). Factors associated with stress among grandparents raising their grandchildren. Family Relations, 49(1), 97-105.
18.
Szinovacz, M. E.
, DeViney, S., & Atkinson, M. P. (1999). Effects of surrogate parenting on grandparents’ well-being. Journals of Gerontology, 54B(6), S376-S388.
19.
Thomas, S. P.
(1997). Distressing aspects of women’s roles, vicarious stress, and health consequences. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 18(6), 539-557.
20.
U.S. Census Bureau, the Official Statistics™
. (1998). Unpublished Tables—Marital Status and Living Arrangements: March 1998 (Update). (Report No. P20-514). Washington, DC: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Retrieved October 16, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/p20-514u.pdf
21.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
. Report to the Congress on kinship foster care. Accessed October 18, 2000 from the World Wide Web: http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/kinr2c00/full.pdf
22.
Walker, L. O.
(1999). Is integrative science necessary to improve nursing practice?Western Journal of Nursing Research, 21(1), 94-102.
23.
Woods, N. F.
, Lentz, M., & Mitchell, E. (1993). The new woman: Health-promoting and health-damaging behaviors. Health Care for Women International, 14, 389-405.
