Grandparents are increasingly raising their grandchildren in the United States of America. Those grandparents who live in rural areas face limited resources to help them raise their grandchildren. This phenomenological study is an investigation of the phenomenon of African American grandparents raising their grandchildren in Southeastern rural Georgia and the resources available to them. It looked at what it will take to start a faith-based or community-based support group for these Africa American grandparents raising their grandchildren in a rural setting. The concept of phenomenology served as the theoretical foundation for the study with social ecological model and social support as supporting concepts. The findings show that African American grandparent caregivers in rural South Georgia face many challenges to their health and wellbeing including: legal hurdles, financial difficulties, their own health problems, their grandchildren's health problems, difficulties with educating their grandchildren, worries about the future of their grandchildren. The resources for health and wellbeing available at multiple ecological levels to the grandparent caregivers are inadequate to mitigate the challenges grandparent caregivers in rural areas face. On the basis of the study appropriate recommendations for interventions are made for grandparent caregivers in rural areas.
","abstract_html":"<p>Grandparents are increasingly raising their grandchildren in the United States of America. Those grandparents who live in rural areas face limited resources to help them raise their grandchildren. This phenomenological study is an investigation of the phenomenon of African American grandparents raising their grandchildren in Southeastern rural Georgia and the resources available to them. It looked at what it will take to start a faith-based or community-based support group for these Africa American grandparents raising their grandchildren in a rural setting. The concept of phenomenology served as the theoretical foundation for the study with social ecological model and social support as supporting concepts. The findings show that African American grandparent caregivers in rural South Georgia face many challenges to their health and wellbeing including: legal hurdles, financial difficulties, their own health problems, their grandchildren's health problems, difficulties with educating their grandchildren, worries about the future of their grandchildren. The resources for health and wellbeing available at multiple ecological levels to the grandparent caregivers are inadequate to mitigate the challenges grandparent caregivers in rural areas face. On the basis of the study appropriate recommendations for interventions are made for grandparent caregivers in rural areas.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Clottey, Emmanuel Nii Okai"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Public Health in Community Health Behavior and Education (Dr.P.H.)","degree_level":"Dissertation (open access)","degree_discipline":"Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Alison Scott","John S. Luque"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:26:17Z","subjects":["ETD","Grandparents","Grandchildren","Rural areas","Caregiving","African American","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/24","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Alison Scott","John S. Luque"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Clottey, Emmanuel Nii Okai"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-07-19T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation (open access)"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Public Health in Community Health Behavior and Education (Dr.P.H.)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["ETD","Grandparents","Grandchildren","Rural areas","Caregiving","African American","Medicine and Health Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/24"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Grandparents are increasingly raising their grandchildren in the United States of America. Those grandparents who live in rural areas face limited resources to help them raise their grandchildren. This phenomenological study is an investigation of the phenomenon of African American grandparents raising their grandchildren in Southeastern rural Georgia and the resources available to them. It looked at what it will take to start a faith-based or community-based support group for these Africa American grandparents raising their grandchildren in a rural setting. The concept of phenomenology served as the theoretical foundation for the study with social ecological model and social support as supporting concepts. The findings show that African American grandparent caregivers in rural South Georgia face many challenges to their health and wellbeing including: legal hurdles, financial difficulties, their own health problems, their grandchildren's health problems, difficulties with educating their grandchildren, worries about the future of their grandchildren. The resources for health and wellbeing available at multiple ecological levels to the grandparent caregivers are inadequate to mitigate the challenges grandparent caregivers in rural areas face. On the basis of the study appropriate recommendations for interventions are made for grandparent caregivers in rural areas.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["African American Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren in Rural Areas: A Phenomenological Investigation in South Georgia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Alison Scott","John S. Luque"],"dc:creator":["Clottey, Emmanuel Nii Okai"],"dc:date.available":["2013-07-19T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Grandparents are increasingly raising their grandchildren in the United States of America. Those grandparents who live in rural areas face limited resources to help them raise their grandchildren. This phenomenological study is an investigation of the phenomenon of African American grandparents raising their grandchildren in Southeastern rural Georgia and the resources available to them. It looked at what it will take to start a faith-based or community-based support group for these Africa American grandparents raising their grandchildren in a rural setting. The concept of phenomenology served as the theoretical foundation for the study with social ecological model and social support as supporting concepts. The findings show that African American grandparent caregivers in rural South Georgia face many challenges to their health and wellbeing including: legal hurdles, financial difficulties, their own health problems, their grandchildren's health problems, difficulties with educating their grandchildren, worries about the future of their grandchildren. The resources for health and wellbeing available at multiple ecological levels to the grandparent caregivers are inadequate to mitigate the challenges grandparent caregivers in rural areas face. On the basis of the study appropriate recommendations for interventions are made for grandparent caregivers in rural areas.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/24"],"dc:subject":["ETD","Grandparents","Grandchildren","Rural areas","Caregiving","African American","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"dc:title":["African American Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren in Rural Areas: A Phenomenological Investigation in South Georgia"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation (open access)"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Public Health in Community Health Behavior and Education (Dr.P.H.)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:26:17Z"}