Exploring the Intergenerational Needs of Families with a Person with Dementia – Qualitative Research Including the Grandchildren

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the needs of grandchildren in intergenerational families caring for a person with dementia attending daycare. The qualitative research design, reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyze the data. Data included 167 individual telephone interviews with family caregivers and Skype discussion sessions exclusively with grandchildren, (11 grandchildren, aged 8–18). In summary, subcategories and categories converged in the theme of Belongingness. In this context, the grandchildren, parents, and grandparents all shared a common need for a sense of belongingness. Together the three categories of Grandchildren’s need for connections, Parent’s & healthy grandparent’s need for connections between the generations, and ways to enable connections explained and highlighted their specific needs and demonstrated ways to meet them. Further research is recommended into educational and supportive community programs for grandchildren. With the use of remote technology (i.e. Zoom, Skype) such programs could include grandchildren physically distanced from grandparents and peers, important during times of crisis, such as COVID-19.

KEYWORDS:

• Dementia
• intergenerational
• grandchildren
• grandparents
• thematic analysis

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank our research assistant Michal Farkas for her help with this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Contribution to the field

1. This research aimed to learn about the experiences and needs of young grandchildren in an intergenerational family caring for a PwD attending dementia daycare.

2. The findings indicate a convergence between the needs of grandchildren and family caregivers for belongingness and the preservation of attachments.

3. Grandchildren should be included in training programs for families caring for relatives with dementia, receiving information about the disease and strategies to enhance coping skills.

4. Community-based programs, technology, and “the sandwich generation” can aid in meeting the needs of these grandchildren.

Additional information

Funding

The Minerva Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of the End of Life, Tel Aviv University.