Papers by Ynesse Abdul-Malak
Health and Grandparenting among 13 Carib bean (and one Latin Amer i can) Immi grant Women in the United States
Grandparenting in the United States, 2016
Redefining Social Lives
Grandparenting Children with Disabilities, 2020
Nearly 17% of U.S. children have developmental disabilities, and the rates are rising. 1 Given th... more Nearly 17% of U.S. children have developmental disabilities, and the rates are rising. 1 Given the shortage of childcare options, many families turn to grandparents. American grandparents provide more grandchild care than grandparents in most industrialized nations. 2,3,4 Millions of grandparents are quietly, almost invisibly, providing vital care for their grandchildren with disabilities, ranging from feeding, dressing, and bathing, to helping with homework, administering medications and therapies, and hooking up feeding tubes. Neither the U.S. government nor employers have expanded benefits for working families. While some grandparents have sufficient resources and few enough demands, to juggle caring for grandchildren with disabilities seamlessly, those who are providing the most intense care with the fewest resources are more likely to experience adverse physical health effects. Federal recognition and support of grandparent care work would assure more comprehensive care, more equitable distribution of resources, and an improvement in grandparent wellbeing. This brief summarizes a chapter from our recently published book, Grandparenting Children with Disabilities, in which we conducted in-depth interviews with 50 grandparents who care for their grandchildren with disabilities. 5 We assessed the wide array of care work they provide and its impact on their physical wellbeing. Many grandparents experience a mix of both positive and negative effects. Care work for grandchildren often results in better diets and more exercise, but these benefits may often be negated by insufficient rest, relaxation, days off, doctor visits, and dental care.
Grandparenting Children with Disabilities, 2020
Grandparenting children with disabilities can be intensive. 1 Generally, the degree of intensity ... more Grandparenting children with disabilities can be intensive. 1 Generally, the degree of intensity in the care work is linked to the degree of severity of disabilities. As we demonstrated in Chapter 5, for some grandchildren, care work is moderately intensive; challenges may indeed be challenging but can often be taken in stride. The work includes mainly routine grandparenting such as helping with transportation, school work, meals, dressing, medications, and outings to the zoo. Grandparents who perform moderately intensive care work tend to do it in intermittent bursts, according to arranged schedules, or around-the-clock. In Chapter 6 we focus on extremely intensive care work. For these grandparents, care work is extremely intensive, requiring nearly all competing activities to be put on hold. Some grandparents provide intensive supervision, some provide intensive medical care, and some provide both. Grandparents must continue to provide routine care for themselves, including preparing meals, cleaning, paying bills, working out, and visiting doctors. In addition, they must provide assistance with routine tasks for their grandchildren, such as feeding, bathing, dressing, toileting, and medicating. And in addition to all of that, these grandparents provide constant supervision or handle specialized medical equipment and treatments such as feeding tubes and oxygen tanks. The days and nights may prove to be long, and the stresses on aging bodies too much. Various factors make the care work even more intensive. In some cases, care work is even more intensive because federal laws are not enforced. For example, though federal law requires public buildings to be accessible, these laws are not usually applied to apartment buildings, thus some are not able to obtain ramps to their apartments. When ramps are not provided as needed, some grandparents do a lot of heavy lifting up and down the stairs and spend their time fighting for ramps. In other cases, care work is even more intensive because poverty-based programs tend to emphasize gatekeeping and red tape rather than stable coverage. For example, though they are eligible, some are not able to sustain Medicaid coverage from one month to the next, or get Medicaid to cover needed therapies and treatments. And in other cases, grandparents provide care even though their own health problems making doing so very difficult. As their stories demonstrate, many grandparents
Grandparenting Children with Disabilities, 2020
Diagnosing Disabilities Diagnosing childhood disabilities is complex. The process can begin in ut... more Diagnosing Disabilities Diagnosing childhood disabilities is complex. The process can begin in utero and last well into early adulthood. Often doctors are proactive and informative, but occasionally the process is impeded by doctor denial or discomfort, family denial or discomfort, incorrect test results, complex symptoms, or lack of access to health care. Some families seek diagnoses, some accept diagnoses, and some become conflicted as certain members accept and others reject medical evaluations. Often symptoms change over time or appear in multiples. Instead of being a single event, diagnosing is often an ongoing process that may last a lifetime. Here the grandparents tell us in great detail how families expend time, energy, money, and patience pursuing, accepting, advocating for, and acting upon diagnoses for their grandchildren. Some of the grandparents we interviewed were the first to notice symptoms and to encourage professional assessment. Some proactively learned as much as they possibly could about the condition and possible treatments. Others tried to follow the lead of the parents, providing support when asked. Some grappled with how to respond when the parents or doctors dismissed symptoms, provided confusing or conflicting diagnoses, or delayed or forfeited treatments. When the process is smooth, grandchildren tend to receive early, proactive interventions; when the process is bumpy those interventions are often delayed and grandchildren go without needed therapies. Difficulties with Diagnosing Disabilities Studies show that diagnosing childhood disabilities is multifaceted and generates a wide range of reactions. Indeed, parents and grandparents have varied reactions when grandchildren are diagnosed with disabilities. 1 While trying to come to terms with diagnoses, some grandparents go through an adjustment process from initial feelings of grief, stress, or depression. Most, but certainly not all, come to accept diagnoses and then strive to provide childcare, emotional support, advocacy, and
Grandmothers’ Financial Contributions and the Impact on Grandmothers
Emotional Ups and Downs
Grandparenting Children with Disabilities, 2020
Caring for grandchildren with disabilities can be both rewarding and taxing. It may generate very... more Caring for grandchildren with disabilities can be both rewarding and taxing. It may generate very positive, and very negative, emotional impacts. Often simultaneously. For some grandparents, care work is almost entirely positive, in part because they so enjoy spending time with their grandchildren and in part because they know they are providing much needed care and their adult children appreciate it profoundly. Providing care gives some grandparents abundant joy that, in some cases, relieves their poor health and sadness and gives new purpose and meaning to their lives. They tend to have enough resources to provide the amount of care needed. These families tend to have close emotional bonds and clear channels of communication, even if they also face health and financial challenges. For other grandparents, caring for grandchildren with disabilities creates emotional distress. Some are reluctant to accept the diagnoses and to let go of the visions they had of grandparenting. Some are concerned about the impact on their own health, their marriages, and their adult children’s wellbeing. Some do not have sufficiently good health or deep enough pockets to provide the amount of care and support needed. Some are overwhelmed by becoming custodial grandparents and providing so much unexpected care at such a late age. And some feel tremendous frustration and disappointment that their adult children are taking advantage of them and failing to express appreciation.
Moderately Intensive Grandparenting
Historically, parental and grandparental roles were quite different. Parents were responsible for... more Historically, parental and grandparental roles were quite different. Parents were responsible for daily care, schoolwork, doctor visits, and discipline while grandparents were responsible for trips to the park, ice cream counter, or matinee. Over time these once divergent roles have converged for many, but certainly not all, families. Studies have noted that as parenting has intensified, so has grandparenting. But the intensification of grandparenting may be for very different reasons. While parenting intensifies primarily as parents try to assure their own children competitive advantages, grandparenting appears to be intensifying primarily due to unmet need. Many families in the US have only one parent, or no paid vacation, paid sick leave, parental leave, or affordable, flexible childcare. Desperate to balance work and family obligations, families often turn to grandparents for assistance. When children have disabilities, these trends are magnified because families have fewer chil...
Grand par ent-Pro vided Childcare for Fam i lies Rais ing Ele men tary School-Aged Chil dren with Disabilities
Love, Laughter, and Special Relationships
How Policy and Place Matter
Rethinking Work and Retirement
Immigrants belonging to some racial/ethnic minority groups might not be benefitting from the heal... more Immigrants belonging to some racial/ethnic minority groups might not be benefitting from the healthy migrant effect. With data from the New Immigrant Survey (2003), which includes immigrants from Mexico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Jamaica, I examine the odds of three health outcomes, chronic conditions, depressive symptoms, and fair or poor self-rated health using a series of logistic regression analyses. I draw on segmented assimilation and the cumulative inequality theories to understand and explicate the extent to which immigrants’ demographic characteristics, pre-immigration experiences, and acculturation in the U.S. might have an impact on immigrants’ health outcomes. Compared to Mexican immigrants, I find evidence to support that Cuban and Jamaican immigrants have significantly higher odds of reporting chronic conditions and Dominican Republic and Cuban immigrants report higher odds of depressive symptoms, while Haitian immigrants have lower odds of depressive sympto...
Managing Views on Disabilities
Noncaregiving Grand par ent Peers’ Per cep tions of Cus to dial Grand par ents: Extent of Life Dis rup tion, Needs for Social Sup port, and Needs for Social and Men tal Health Ser vices
Young Adults’ Per cep tions of Liv ing with Their Grand par ents Dur ing Childhood
Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation, 2020
Workplace accommodations, vital for employees with disabilities, promote diversity and inclusion ... more Workplace accommodations, vital for employees with disabilities, promote diversity and inclusion efforts in organizations. This article examines who requests accommodations and who is more likely to have requests granted. We investigate the roles of individual characteristics and their intersection, including disability, sexual orientation, gender, race/ethnicity, and age. Methods: Using data from a national survey of U.S. lawyers, we estimate the odds of requesting accommodations and having the requests approved. We also estimate differences in odds according to individual characteristics, adjusting for control variables. Results: Personal identity factors, such as disability status, gender, and age, predict requests for accommodations. Odds of requesting accommodations were higher for women and people with disabilities as compared to men and those without disabilities, but lower for older individuals. Odds of requesting accommodations were higher for an older population segment-older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) lawyers-than for younger lawyers. Accommodations were granted differentially to individuals with multiple marginalized identities. Counter to predictions, being a person with a disability is negatively associated with having an accommodation granted. Older lawyers generally have higher odds of having accommodations granted, but odds for groups such as women and racial/ethnic minorities decline with age. LGBQ lawyers who are racial minorities have lower odds than White LGBQ lawyers of having their accommodations granted. Longer tenure increases the odds of requesting accommodations. Working for a private organization decreases the odds; working for a large organization generally increases the odds. Conclusions: Those most needing accommodations, such as lawyers with disabilities and women, are more likely to request accommodations. Disabled lawyers, older women lawyers, older racial/ethnic minority lawyers, and LGBQ minority lawyers have relatively low odds of having requests granted. The results highlight the need to consider intersectional identities in the accommodation process.
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Papers by Ynesse Abdul-Malak