College of Applied Sciences, Al Maarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Department of Health Administration, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
J Gerontol Soc Work. 2022 Jul;65(5):512-528. doi: 10.1080/01634372.2021.1983684. Epub 2021 Sep 21.
Understanding grandparents' lived experiences and healthy aging is essential to designing efficient, effective, and safe services to support a family structure in which grandparents care for their grandchildren. However, no study to date has explored this concept in an Arab and Muslim country during a pandemic. The purpose of this study was to examine grandparents' experiences raising their grandchildren to provide recommendations for needed mental health interventions during and after COVID-19. We used a phenomenological approach to gain a detailed and in-depth understanding of the lived experiences of 15 grandparents caring for their grandchildren. This study shows the need for support service interventions (support groups, health professional support, and respite care) for grandparents in Saudi Arabia, especially during global crises like COVID-19, that enhance social distance and social isolation. Raising grandchildren affects the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of the grandparents.
了解祖父母的生活体验和健康老龄化对于设计高效、有效和安全的服务以支持由祖父母照顾孙辈的家庭结构至关重要。然而，迄今为止，没有研究在阿拉伯和穆斯林国家的大流行期间探讨这一概念。本研究的目的是探讨祖父母养育孙辈的经验，为 COVID-19 期间和之后所需的心理健康干预措施提供建议。我们使用现象学方法深入了解了 15 位照顾孙辈的祖父母的生活体验。这项研究表明，沙特阿拉伯的祖父母需要支持服务干预措施（支持小组、健康专业人员支持和临时照顾），尤其是在 COVID-19 等全球危机期间，这会增强社交距离和社会隔离。养育孙辈会影响祖父母的身心健康和社会福利。
