RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CAREGIVING MOTIVATION, CAREGIVING PARTICIPATION, AND CAREGIVING IMPACTS ON WELL-BEING OF ELDERLY CAREGIVERS OF PRESCHOOL CHILDREN IN LAMPANG PROVINCE, THAILAND

Abstract

Working away from home inevitably forced the parents to leave their children at home or in a childcare center under the care of someone else. Grandparents significantly contribute to take care of their grandchildren at home while parents are working. We are interested to know whether this grand parenting affects their well being of children’s. This is descriptive research intended to study the relationship between caregiving motivation, caregiving participation and well being of the elderly in taking care of their preschool grandchildren in Lampang Province. The sample included 318 elderly people who cared for their grandchildren at home. The questionnaire collected data on: General Information; Caregiving Motivation; Caregiving Participation; and Well being of the Elderly. The content validity index of the instrument was 0.86 with the reliability Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.76. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Correlation Coefficients.

The results showed that level of caregiving motivation was very high (X = 3.52, SD = 0.74). Caregiving participation was high (X = 3.22, SD = 0.84) and caregiving impacts on well being of the elderly was low (X = 2.44, SD = 1.05). Caregiving motivation was positively correlated with caregiving participation (r = 0.63, p = 0.00). Caregiving participation was negatively correlated with caregiving impact on well being of the elderly (r = 0.209, p = 0.000), whereas caregiving motivation and caregiving impact on well being of the elderly were not significantly correlated (r = 0.051, p = 0.362). Future research should examine the complex relationship between caregiving participation and wellbeing of grandparents, in order to promote caregiving participation and wellbeing. This is in the pursuit of maximizing the benefits of grand parenting for both the children and their grandparents.