Needs of Grandparents of Preschool-Aged Children with ASD in Sweden.
Rano Zakirova Engstrand, Lise Roll-Pettersson, Mara Westling Allodi and 1 others
PMID 30825081WHAT IT FOUND
Grandparents of preschool children with autism in Sweden most needed information on helping the grandchild develop skills and manage behaviour.
They also wanted guidance on communicating with teachers and accessing family counselling. Needs did not vary by age, gender, education, health, distance or contact.
Key findings
01Information was the highest-rated need area, followed by childcare; financial support was the lowest.
02Grandparents most wanted practical information on developing the grandchild's skills and managing behaviour, plus help communicating with teachers and accessing family counselling.
03No significant associations were found between grandparents' demographic variables and their perceived needs.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The sample came from grandparents who chose to attend a course at one Stockholm habilitation service, so it may not represent grandparents who did not attend, live far away, have poor health, or have immigrant backgrounds. The participants were mostly Swedish-speaking (90.1%), university-educated (55.6%), living in a city (62.5%), and 84.7% reported good health. The study measured needs at one time point and relied on self-report, so it cannot show cause or effect and does not test whether meeting grandparents' needs improves outcomes. The impact supplement was designed for parents and teachers who see the child daily; most grandparents did not live with the grandchild, and there were missing data for several impact items. The survey was a modified Swedish translation without back translation, and some items were removed or changed. Income was not collected, so financial needs may not be fully captured.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration is given in the supplied text. The study was part of a collaboration between Stockholm University and the publicly funded Autism Center for Small Children at Habilitation & Health, Stockholm County Council.
The easy way to misread this
Do not generalise these needs to all grandparents of children with autism. The participants were mostly Swedish-speaking, university-educated, urban grandparents who volunteered at a Stockholm habilitation course, and the study did not test whether meeting these needs improves outcomes.