Reflections on the experiences and needs of grandparents caring for their grandchildren with a substance use disorder

Abstract

In South Africa grandparents play a significant role in family life. A qualitative study was undertaken to explore and describe the perspectives of grandparents caring for their grandchildren with substance use disorder (SUD). Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews with grandmothers and analysed following Tesch’s eight steps. Guba’s classic model was employed for data verification. The findings revealed that grandparents experience heightened levels of stress, fear, intimidation, disappointment, shame and financial constraints, which may subsequently compromise their social wellbeing. Based on these findings, recommendations are made in an attempt to provide solutions to the challenges faced by grandparents.

Keywords

• Grandparents
• grandchildren
• substance use disorder (SUD)
• care-taking
• levels of stress
• South Africa