# GIFT:  Web Based Resourcefulness Training for Grandmother Caregivers

> **NIH NIH R01** · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $492,613

## Abstract

GIFT: Web Based Resourcefulness Training for Grandmother Caregivers
The number of grandparent-headed homes has increased over the past two decades, primarily due to parental
drug use leading to family instability, and an increase in multigenerational homes due to continuing effects of
the economic downturn in 2008 and sustained unemployment and underemployment. Most grandmothers
living with grandchildren report elevated stress and strain and are at risk of depression and poorer overall
health than their non-caregiving peers. Stress and depressive symptoms can have a cascading effect on the
family, creating an increased risk for problems in family functioning. The presence of positive coping skills,
such as resourcefulness, may reduce or moderate the negative effects of caregiving and family-related stress
on the well-being of the grandmother and her family. We have shown that face-to-face resourcefulness training
in older adults, including grandmothers, improves both mental and physical health. The purpose of this study
is to extend our previous face-to-face resourcefulness intervention to a web-based format focused on
grandmothers who are either raising grandchildren or living in multigenerational homes and helping with their
care, and to test its effects on health in this randomized clinical trial. The web-based online intervention,
Grandmother Initiatives in Family Transformation (GIFT), tests online resourcefulness training with
reinforcement of the resourcefulness skills through 4 weeks of structured journaling, against a 4 week online,
unstructured journaling-only group. In this two-group randomized trial, we will randomly assign a national,
convenience sample of 334 grandmothers to GIFT resourcefulness training (n=167) or the 4 week unstructured
journal-only group (n=167). Specific Aims are to determine 1) whether the 4-week GIFT intervention with
structured journal reinforcement versus the 4-week unstructured journal-only group improves grandmothers'
mental health and physical health and family well-being over time; 2) if a) problem solving/coping
(resourcefulness), b) resources (subjective and instrumental social support), and c) situational appraisals
(appraised stress, appraised reward, and depressive cognitions) mediate the relationships between GIFT and
individual and family outcomes at 2 weeks, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks post-intervention; and 3) if a)
grandmother demographics (age, race, education, marital status, employment status, family income, age and
number of grandchildren in the household), b) caregiving status to grandchildren, and c) family demands (intra-
family strains) moderate the relationship between the intervention and the outcomes in Aims 1 and 2.
Repeated measures and structural equation modeling will be used to analyze these data, with content analysis
of the journals to evaluate enactment fidelity and to uncover additional strategies used by grandmother
caregivers. Given the limited interventions available to this g...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9825564
- **Project number:** 5R01NR015999-04
- **Recipient organization:** CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Carol M. Musil
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $492,613
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-12-20 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9825564

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9825564, GIFT:  Web Based Resourcefulness Training for Grandmother Caregivers (5R01NR015999-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9825564. Licensed CC0.

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