Empowerment as Mutual Aid
Carole Cox

TL;DR
A virtual empowerment program helped isolated grandparent caregivers in New York by connecting them through online classes and fostering community support.
Contribution
The paper introduces a virtual empowerment program for grandparent caregivers, demonstrating its effectiveness in fostering social connections during the pandemic.
Findings
The virtual program successfully connected 95 low-income Black grandparents raising grandchildren.
Participants formed strong social ties and maintained contact beyond the program sessions.
Virtual groups emerged as a viable solution for social inclusion and support in caregiving roles.
Abstract
Empowerment programs for grandparent caregivers have traditionally been conducted in-person, allowing participants to interact directly. However, COVID 19 pandemic made such gatherings impossible, where isolation was essential. Concomitantly, grandparents raising grandchildren faced heightened challenges, requiring assistance both for themselves and their caregiving roles. The goals of empowerment practice are to help clients achieve a sense of personal power, become more aware of connections between individual and community problems, develop skills, and be able to work collaboratively toward social change. A virtual empowerment group was developed to meet the needs of these families with the program under the auspices of the NY City Department for the Aging. The program consisted of 7 classes offered through Zoom. The only prerequisites to participating were to be a grandparent…
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Taxonomy
TopicsIntergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Geriatric Care and Nursing Homes · Health, psychology, and well-being
