Research on family relationships has indicated that the family is the primary basis of security for adults in later life. To explore the family environment and interactional experience of multigenerational families in which the elderly grandparent is chronically ill, 12 families (12 grandparents, 13 adult children, and 11 grandchildren) completed written questionnaires. The elderly family member was personally interviewed apart from the other family members. Data were obtained on the family environment, perceived support, physical health, and coping strategies. The elderly persons' most common complaints were not having enough friends, not feeling needed, not having enough to do, and feeling lonely. They expressed ambivalent feelings about their situations and demonstrated a lack of clarity in others' perceptions of them, generally as the result of poor communication. The adult children felt a strong responsibility to care for their parents, although they often felt caught in the middle. They also perceived a lack of communication as the most common problem. The grandchildren expressed love and closeness in the family, yet viewed the limitations the grandparent put on the family's flexibility and freedom as a common problem. They also saw lack of communication as the overriding problem. All three generations were limited in identifying solutions. These findings point to the need for multigenerational family counseling to explore problems and solutions. (BL)