This study examines the personal and professional growth for three student-caregivers as they began working with infants and families in child care. Findings suggest that new infant caregivers experience thoughts and feelings similar to those of new teachers of older children. Challenges include adjusting to the physical and emotional intensity of…

Notes that because child care is a customer-service business with many of the same requirements as any retail business, it is important that providers communicate clearly, help their customers (especially parents), and understand their needs. Offers suggestions for meeting parents' needs and making them feel like active participants in their…

Summarizes information on possible infertility treatments and discusses the needs they create and the issues they raise for children and parents. Offers ideas on what early childhood caregivers and educators can do to help families who are engaging in these treatments. (JW)

Adult daughters and sons of 31 cognitively disabled mothers were interviewed, regardless of their participation in providing care. Family size and gender composition appear to be important determinants of a system, and each is characterized by a predominant value (affiliation, equity, and emotional protection of offspring). (Author/JPS)

Randomly assigned to 1 of 156 conditions, 256 adults evaluated either a patronizing or a neutral conversation between a nurse and an elderly nursing home resident. Nurses using patronizing styles were viewed as less respectful or nurturant and residents as less satisfied. Results held true for personal situation topics but not for resident…

At site visits to approximately 2,800 family day care homes in Texas, assessed indices of caregiver competency (attainment of high school diploma, attendance at training and orientation sessions, and participation in elective professional activities) and facility compliance to 116 Texas family day care standards. Found that increased caregiver…

This study investigated the language input of eight childcare providers to eight young children with developmental disabilities and language delay in day care contexts. Findings indicated that language input addressed to these children was directive and not finely tuned to their expressive language levels. Also, these children interacted…

Grandparents currently raise 1.35 million children in the United States. These grandparents, while providing a sense of stability and security to the children, do so at emotional, physical, and financial cost to themselves. Article reviews literature on the prevalence and population of grandparents raising grandchildren and the identified problem…

Using a cross-sectional analysis of 250 white individuals, 70-103 years of age, this article questions whether a vertical family structure is found with increasing age. Findings indicate, among other things, that at least until age 90 the proportion of individuals with a vertical family structure with four generations never exceeds the numbers of…

Examines relationships among caregivers' internal resourcefulness, demands of caregiving situations, and caregivers' self-reported coping behaviors relative to changes in dysphoric affect. Primary caregivers of the frail elderly (n=143) completed several measures approximately 4 months apart. Decreased dysphoric affect among caregivers was linked…

Details steps to make day care staff training well-targeted, creative, and useful. The steps are: identify training needs, select training topic and define the target audience, define training goals, select methods of presentation and activities, provide good training resources for future use, evaluate training, and infuse the training with…

Purpose: This study examined attitudes of caregivers and physicians toward assessing and diagnosing dementia, with an emphasis on how a diagnosis is disclosed. Design and Methods: Seventeen focus group interviews were conducted with caregivers or physicians from three sites; 52 caregivers participated in nine interviews (three each at the three…

Guided by a life course perspective, this study investigated whether the psychological consequences of transitioning into a caregiver role for a biological parent, parent-in-law, spouse, other kin, or nonkin among married adults might be moderated by marital role quality. Using longitudinal data from a national sample of 1,842 married adults aged…

This article describes the derivation of a short-form of the Marwit-Meuser Caregiver Grief Inventory (MM-CGI), an inventory designed to measure grief in caregivers of persons with progressive dementia. It presents initial reliability and validity data and describes ways to use the inventory both clinically and scientifically. The resulting MM-CGI…

This article describes an online course developed and currently offered at Middle Tennessee State University. Considering the statistics of family caregivers, their needs, and students' and human service professionals' education, the author demonstrates the necessity of such courses and their benefits. The author also considers the standards for…