The implications of childcare on grandparents' health self‐management in a Chinese elderly population

Summary Grandparents caring for grandchildren has become a common experience in China. However, the health implications of grandparenting, especially for health self‐management, remain unclear. A cross‐sectional study was conducted to investigate the effects of grandparenting on health self‐management in older adults in China. Information on socioeconomic characteristics, grandparenting, and health self‐management was collected through interviewer‐administered questionnaires. Age less than 50, male gender, higher education level, being a local resident, having a chronic illness, and supporting themselves financially were all factors that were significantly positively associated with health self‐management (P < .05) in grandparents. Grandparenting characteristics, including caring for grandchildren at night, a caregiving burden of more than 50%, poorly behaved grandchildren, caring for grandchildren more than 6 hours per day, and caring for grandchildren less than 1 year in age were significantly negatively associated with health self‐management in grandparents (P < .05). Multiple regression analyses indicated that grandparent age, receiving financial support from children, being a local resident, education level, grandchild behavior and age, and being an urban resident were all statistically significant factors associated with health self‐management in grandparents involved in grandparenting. Taken together, these results suggested that financial condition and caregiving burden might be the major factors affecting health self‐management in grandparents involved in grandparenting.