Perspectives on Religious and Spiritual Coping among Rural Grandparent Caregivers

Madeline Nicole Dunfee; Robyn Lewis Brown; Nancy E. Schoenberg

doi:10.1177/0192513X20938857

Perspectives on Religious and Spiritual Coping among Rural Grandparent Caregivers

Madeline Nicole Dunfee, Robyn Lewis Brown, Nancy E. Schoenberg

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

Poverty and poor health disproportionately affect older adults serving as primary caregivers to their grandchildren. In underserved, rural regions, where grandparent caregivers may be especially vulnerable, grandparent caregivers may find support in cultural traditions. As part of a mixed methods study investigating stress among grandparent caregivers, the role religion and spirituality play in coping was explored using a survey complemented by semi-structured interviews with 26 rural grandparent caregivers. Findings suggest religion and spirituality facilitate coping by (a) providing a sense of purpose and perspective; (b) fostering peace and perseverance; and (c) promoting stability and social cohesion. This study describes how cultural assets aid grandparent caregivers’ coping and may inform supportive policies and practices for grandfamilies.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1495-1515
Number of pages	21
Journal	Journal of Family Issues
Volume	42
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X20938857
State	Published - Jul 2021

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.

Funding

We express appreciation to the following individuals for their considerable efforts on behalf of this project: Shuang Bi, Aaron Guest, Rachel Swanson, and Lily Weddle. Special appreciation goes to Project Managers Glenn Kincaid and Barbara Bowling. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was supported by The Retirement Research Foundation [#2014-211: Schoenberg]; Igniting Research Collaborations [Keller & Schoenberg]; and the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical Translational Sciences [Keller]. The CCTS is funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number UL1TR001998. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Retirement Research Foundation or the NIH. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was supported by The Retirement Research Foundation [#2014-211: Schoenberg]; Igniting Research Collaborations [Keller & Schoenberg]; and the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical Translational Sciences [Keller]. The CCTS is funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number UL1TR001998. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Retirement Research Foundation or the NIH.

Funders	Funder number
Managers Glenn Kincaid and Barbara Bowling
National Institutes of Health (NIH)	UL1TR001998
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Retirement Research Foundation	2014-211
Retirement Research Foundation
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
University of Kentucky, Center for Clinical and Translational Science

Keywords

caregiver
grandparents
religious coping
rural
spiritual coping

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Access to Document

10.1177/0192513X20938857

Cite this

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abstract = "Poverty and poor health disproportionately affect older adults serving as primary caregivers to their grandchildren. In underserved, rural regions, where grandparent caregivers may be especially vulnerable, grandparent caregivers may find support in cultural traditions. As part of a mixed methods study investigating stress among grandparent caregivers, the role religion and spirituality play in coping was explored using a survey complemented by semi-structured interviews with 26 rural grandparent caregivers. Findings suggest religion and spirituality facilitate coping by (a) providing a sense of purpose and perspective; (b) fostering peace and perseverance; and (c) promoting stability and social cohesion. This study describes how cultural assets aid grandparent caregivers{\textquoteright} coping and may inform supportive policies and practices for grandfamilies.",

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Perspectives on Religious and Spiritual Coping among Rural Grandparent Caregivers

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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