10 Older Adults 273
Grandparent Caregivers
Grandparent-headed households are one of the fastest growing family units
in the United States (Hayslip & Kaminski, 2008). In households where the
grandparent becomes the custodial caregiver, ambivalence pervades relations
among the generations. Sometimes the adult child returns (or is present) in the
household as well and this can lead to challenges about responsibility for the
grandchild’s welfare. Many grandparents feel caught between their wish to
help meet the needs of their adult children and grandchildren and their resent-
ment of the time and money involved in doing so (Hayslip & Kaminski, 2008).
Custodial grandparents frequently experience a sense of loss connected
with their inability to be traditional grandparents who can enjoy their grand-
children without the responsibility of disciplining them (Hayslip & Kaminski,
2008; Kolomer & McCallion, 2005). Custodial grandparents are often coping
with the circumstance that led to their becoming custodial grandparents, fre-
quently related to their own adult children who have been mentally or physi-
cally ill or have suffered with addiction (Hayslip & Kaminski, 2008). Custodial
grandmothers are much more likely to live in poverty and may experience
loneliness and loss because their peers do not share similar responsibilities
(Hooyman & Kiyak, 2008).
Nevertheless, some custodial grandparents see dramatic improvement in
their grandchildren’s development and realize how their involvement has con-
tributed to this. Custodial grandparents have been found to experience gains
in self-worth, self-esteem, achievement, and competence as a result of raising
their grandchildren (Essex, Newsome, & Moses, 2004). They can instill a sense
of culture and family history in their grandchildren and can define their care-
giving as a meaningful contribution to the family and to the world (Hayslip &
Kaminski, 2008). When they are healthy, these grandparents maintain a sense
of well-being. It is more problematic when the grandchild has behavioral or
physical difficulties that impinge on the grandparents’ ability to feel a sense
of accomplishment (Hayslip, Blumenthal, & Garner, 2014). Although custo-
dial grandparents may lose leisure and recreation time they had expected, and
financial resources they anticipated for their own use, many seem to be resil-
ient as they take on the role.
Intervention
Meditation as an Intervention for Older Adults
Intervention with older adults requires awareness of age-related decline in
cognitive functioning. A systematic review (Gard, Holzel, & Lazar, 2014) of
studies investigating the effects of meditation on cognition and cognitive
decline among aging people reveals that meditation techniques have promise
in offsetting age-related cognitive decline and may actually increase cogni-
tive capacities in older adults. One of the more dramatic findings was in the
area of improved attention when practicing mindfulness meditation (Gard
et al., 2014; Prakash, De Leon, Patterson, Schirda, & Janssen, 2014). For older
adults who learn and practice mindfulness mediation, improvement in ability
