Who’ll care for them in the event of me dying? Custodial grandparents’ incapacity, mortality, and succession care-plan fears for their custodial grandchild/ren
Abstract
Custodial grandparents are a vulnerable and marginalised group within society. A total of 110 these custodial grandparents took part in a mixed-method (qualitative interview and quantitative survey) research project. Of these, 22 participated in a semi-structured interview, 27 participated in an interview and completed a Grandcarer Needs, Wellbeing and Health Survey, and 61 completed a survey only. Data were subjected to conventional, summative and directed content analysis. The results reveal that while a few custodial grandparents have a viable succession plan for their custodial grandchildren’s care post their incapacitation or demise, the majority do not. Indeed, many custodial grandparents have such a conflictual (or no) relationship with not only their offspring, but also their extended family members, coupled with a deep distrust of the foster-care system that their succession (Plan B) care options for their custodial grandchild are limited. The prevailing plan being not to die before their grandchild/ren reach maturity. The health implications of raising grandchildren without a viable succession plan are discussed.
Keywords
care transition barriers, Custodial grandparents, grandchildren, mortality fears, succession planning
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
2019
Publication Title
Journal of Intergenerational Relationships
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Group
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
RAS ID
29269
Copyright
subscription content
Comments
Taylor, M. F., Coall, D. A., & Karthigesu, S. (2019). Who’ll care for them in the event of me dying? Custodial grandparents’ incapacity, mortality, and succession care-plan fears for their custodial grandchild/ren. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 17(2), 178-200. Available here