DETERMINING THE SUCCESS OF GRANDPARENT EDUCATION

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the outcomes of a course for grandparents. A sample of 87 consanguineous subjects included 29 gran dparents, 29 grandchildren,, and 29 of the grandchildren's parents. Tw elve class sessions explored how the experiences of growing up and rai sing children differ fron the recent past and attempted to identify, c orresponding changes required for the older relatives. Each generation was administered the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory before and after grandparents attended the course. The participants reported perceptions regarding six dimensions of grandparent attitudes and beh aviors. Changes in the performance of grandparents were compared using t-tests. According to the grandparents, the course resulted in increa sed satisfaction (2 <.05), greater success (2 <.05) and more effective teaching (2 <.05) in family relationships. They reported making gains for 58 out of 60 items. Parents and grandchildren corroborated most o f these gains by higher posttest scores. MANOVA identified: significan t differences in generational perceptions of grandparent potentials (2 <.05) and concerns (p <.01). The findings confirm that family develop ment goals can be supported by making education for grandparents avail able and encouraging them to remain influential in their families thro ugh continued learning.