Grandparents who babysit their grandchildren are the focus of a new Triple P program being trialled in Australia.
Grandparent Triple P, which is based on The University of Queensland’s world-renowned Triple P – Positive Parenting Program, was created in response to figures showing that grandparents are the largest single providers of childcare in Australia, a trend echoed around the world.
Program Coordinator James Kirby, who developed the new program with Triple P founder Professor Matt Sanders, said the number of support programs currently available for grandparents involved in childcare doesn’t match the demand.
“For some families it can be tough; what a grandparent and a parent think as being the best ways to support the grandchildren can differ," Mr Kirby said.
"In those situations sometimes tension can arise and people can be disappointed.
"The challenge is to try and develop an effective and open communication channel so that both parent and grandparent feel heard and are happy with their roles and what is expected of them."
Professor Sanders said that on top of this, grandparents brought a great deal of experience and expertise to the role when providing care to their grandkids, as they had been parents before.
"But what we are finding from our research is that some grandparents want a refreshment of what strategies work with children, as it has been a while since they have had to care for children on a regular basis,” Professor Sanders said.
More than 50 grandparents have participated in the program that aims to help grandparents providing care to their grandchildren.
Grandparent Triple P is a 9-session group-based program.
The first three sessions are aimed at helping improve behaviour and provides helpful tips and ideas on how to best manage grandchildren.
The next three sessions involve building a positive parenting team with the parent and their partner, as well as going through some grandparent coping skills to manage stress.
The final three sessions are telephone consultations, with the program tailored to the specific individual needs of the grandparent.
Sally, a grandmother from Carindale who recently completed Grandparent Triple P, said she had found the program rewarding.
“My little grandson is a handful at times and the course offered some new approaches and some I had simply forgotten,” she said.
With the current trial of the program nearing completion, preliminary short-term results indicate that Grandparent Triple P helps improve the parenting confidence of grandparents and also helps reduce grandchild behavioural problems.
“Once the trial is complete, we hope to be able to offer Grandparent Triple P to all grandparents in Australia through Triple P International,” Mr Kirby said.
In addition, the usefulness of Grandparent Triple P is being explored in other cultures. It has been translated into Chinese and is currently being evaluated in a trial in Hong Kong.
“Ultimately, the hope is that Grandparent Triple P will be able to help grandparents and families with the important role of raising children.”
Media: James Kirby (School of Psychology), email: j.kirby@psy.uq.edu.au, phone: 3346 7689 or Helen Burdon (Marketing and Communications, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences), email: h.burdon@uq.edu.au, phone: 3346 9279.
September 17 to 21 is Research Week 2012 at UQ, one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. For more information visit: www.uq.edu.au/research-week
