The Impact of a Member-Led Virtual Support Group for Kinship Caregiver Well-Being

Background and Purpose: Since its founding in 2020, Kinship Caregivers Connect (KCC) is one of the first online, statewide support groups for kinship caregivers, providing a peer-led community for kinship caregivers throughout the State of Ohio. Moreover, KCC provides a comprehensive model tying together informational and peer support through meetings dedicated to open discussion and group check-ins, and the other half of meetings with psycho-educational trainings featuring community experts. KCC aims to ultimately improve caregiver well-being and capacity, thus also benefitting family stability and child well-being.

Methods. KCC, independent evaluators, and caregivers with lived experience partnered to evaluate the impact of this unique and community-based support model using a mixed method longitudinal study. Moreover, the team investigated the usability, acceptability, and impact of KCC’s program for kinship caregiver and family well-being. One-hundred and nineteen caregivers completed the baseline survey, which includes various demographic questions to understand the intersectional identities and needs of caregivers. Caregivers who attended at least one support group (n = 66) shared about their experiences and the impact of KCC with open ended questions. Themes were identified using a Grounded Theory approach, with caregivers with lived experience taking part in the qualitative coding process. Additionally, preliminary outcomes related to caregiver well-being were compared between attendees and non-attendees who completed at least one follow up survey (n = 61).

Results: Caregivers’ demographics in the current sample were largely representative compared to other studies in kinship care. A majority of research participants were grandparents, female, and informal kinship caregivers. About two-thirds identified as White and one-third as Black. Caregivers represented rural, urban, and suburban areas throughout the State of Ohio.

Overall, caregivers reported high acceptability and usability: 94.1% agree they would recommend the support group to another caregiver. Themes describe key experiences with KCC and include peer support, learning, impact on family well-being, and unique components to the KCC model. Preliminary quantitative findings suggest increased meeting attendance is linked to better emotion-focused coping skills (p < 0.01).

Conclusion/Implications: This is one of the first studies of its kind in evaluating the impact of an innovative virtual support group for kinship caregivers. Findings suggest feasibility and acceptability for this model in serving a representative group of kinship caregivers with unique needs. Caregivers shared about the helpfulness of both peer support and informational resources for their and their family’s well-being, with considerations for an online support model. Additionally, results suggest participating in an online support group can improve emotion-focused coping skills compared to non-attendees.