Exploration of the Grandmothers' Health Literacy for Infants

• Main Authors: LEE, SHU-JU, 李淑如
• Other Authors: HO, CHING-JUNG
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/97744309873877966807

博士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 成人教育研究所 === 105 === For dual-earner families with children, the demand for child care has continued to increase in recent years. One third of infants and toddlers under the age of three in Taiwan are in the care of their grandparents or other relatives. Aside from the child’s parents, the role of primary caregiver falls to the grandmother and they bear the responsibility for the care and health of their infant grandchild. Thus, the health literacy of the grandmother is critical in maintaining the good health of the infant. This study shall explore the range and composition of infant health focused on by grandmothers and investigates major influencing factors to better understand the range and composition of infant health which grandmothers are truly concerned about. This study shall also discuss how grandmothers access, understand, appraise, and apply health information, as well as the distinctions of health literacy and major influencing factors. Qualitative case study research method was used for this study, with a total of five grandmothers involved. The research concept framework is based on the integrated model of health literacy of European scholars, then further modified and developed by researcher. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted in the domestic environment of the grandmothers. With a vast contextual understanding via field observation and documentary research, the information gathered from the interviews was then encoded, organized, and annotated. As analysis results show, firstly, the range of infant health mainly focused on by grandmothers include: 1. Health promotion of infants: mental and physical care, learning through play, and upbringing; 2. Health damage prevention of infants: safety protection and preventive care; 3. Health care of infants: medical treatment and domestic care. The range of infant health can be further categorized into the two aspects of daily care and medical care. Second, the revealed composition of health literacy involve: 1. Accessing: sources of acquisition are interpersonal network, the infant, the grandmother, the media and books. Methods of acquisition are through active search and passive reception; 2. Understanding: memory, connection and comparison, formation of tentative concept, presumption and deduction; 3. Appraising: evaluation criteria include suitable validity, clear rationality, and source reliability. Value assessment is positive or negative; 4. Applying: autonomy, submission, communication and negotiation. Third, health literacy for infants is distinct due to the specificity of infant health range, the complex change of the cognitive and communication process, and the shown difference in autonomy in the medical aspect and daily aspect of health literacy for infants. Fourth, major influencing factors include: 1. Factors of infant health characteristics and development; 2. Individual factors of the grandmother: mental and physical condition, motive behind child care, knowledge and experience regarding child health; 3. Family factors: child care model with division of labor or collaboration from the infant’s mother; 4. Social and cultural factors: the patrilineal cultural in Taiwan, government policy on relative child care provider. Lastly, this study provides suggestions for grandmothers’ health education of infants, government child care policy, and future research.