Dial-a-Granny Community Assistance to Families Under Stress (From National Symposium on Victimology - Proceedings, P 327-335, 1982, P N Grabosky, ed. - See NCJ-90209)

• NCJ Number: 90229
• Author(s): P J Barbour
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 9 pages
• Sale Source: Australian Institute of Criminology; National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

The Dial-a-Granny service, established in Adelaide, Australia, in 1980, pairs elderly citizens with young families to reduce the isolation of the former and the pressures experienced by the latter.

Abstract

Dial-a-Granny was designed to recreate an extended family support. Elderly participants are 53-70 years-old, with retired couples being a particular focus. The participants act as proxy grandparents to care for the children and inject greater stability, order, and emotional satisfaction into family life. Praise for the program has been received from schools, where students benefiting from the program have showed marked improvement, and from police officers, who believe that the elderly companions of previously bored juveniles have helped prevent delinquent behavior. Some of the problems have been in the areas of logistics, because of overwhelming demands on a program initiated as a limited volunteer pilot project, and relational problems and misunderstandings that arose during the evolution of practical policy regarding the duties of the elderly participants. The future holds great promise for the program because of the erosion of family relationships and intergeneration friendships. Three notes and 11 references are provided.