During the past decade, there has been a 39% increase in grandparent-headed families in which the biological parents of the children do not live in the home, a trend that is expected to continue (Casper & Bryson, 1997). Little is known about the demographics of this vulnerable, emerging family form in rural areas. Project Healthy Grandparents (PHG), an affiliate of Project Healthy Grandparents at Georgia State University in Atlanta, is a university-based support and research program that provides social, medical and legal services to grandparents who are raising their grandchildren in rural South Georgia. Implementation of the PHG program has been particularly challenging because of the rural context of an area in which older adults often lack access to comprehensive health and social services. The program that has been developed at Valdosta State University is based on a community collaborative model based on the formation of partnerships among pivotal individuals and organizations within the state, university and local community. The overarching goals of PHG include prevention of the grandchildren's entry into the child welfare system and empowerment of families.
We will present the collaborative model that has been developed as a foundation for PHG program with a primary focus on the grandparent caregivers. Additionally we will discuss implementation of the program, initial data that describe the demographics of the vulnerable geriatric population, and empirical data that demonstrates changes in program families on selected health and social dimensions.
Learning Objectives: 1. Describe the collaborative model associated with Project Healthy Grandparents. 2. Describe the population of grandparents raising grandchildren in rural South Georgia. 3. Evaluate the effectiveness of Project Healthy Grandparents based on selected social and health indicators.
Keywords: Aging, Rural Populations
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.