The Characteristics and Needs of Asian-American Grandparent Caregivers

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This study addresses the characteristics and needs of Asian-American grandparent caregivers. This population has been ignored in the past by social services providers and researchers in New York City. For this study, one hundred and one Chinese-American and Korean-American grandparents were recruited with the help of various organizations. The results suggest that most Asian-American grandparents are extensive caregivers who provide a significant proportion of their grandchildren's day care while the parents are at work, without having legal guardianship or primary care-giving responsibility. It also appears that major difficulties and needs of Asian-American grandparent caregivers may be different from those of non-Hispanic whites, African-Americans and Hispanics since the groups are different in terms of immigration history, acculturation and their status as grandparent care-givers. Surprisingly, and contrary to widespread perception, Asian-American grandparent caregivers want access to services that are appropriate to their needs. Implications of the results for practice and research include the need for service extension for Asian-American grandparent extensive caregivers, implementation of culturally and linguistically appropriate services and programs, education of social work practitioners and program planners and further studies.