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Piette J (AA HSRD COE), Silveira MJ
(AA HSRD COE), Langa K
(AA HSRD COE), Rosland AM
(AA HSRD COE), Gregor MA
(AA HSRD COE)
Workshop Objectives:
After participating in this workshop, participants will: (1) gain knowledge regarding the epidemiology and economics of informal caregiving for chronically ill patients; (2) be familiar with ongoing VHA research focused on informal care systems; (3) be familiar with how VHA clinicians and researchers are using informal care resources to improve chronic and advanced illness management; and (4) understand important directions for future informal caregiving research and funding opportunities.
Activities:
The workshop will include didactic presentations by VA experts studying informal care from the patient, caregiver, and health system perspectives. There will be opportunities for discussion following each presentation.
John Piette, workshop moderator, will provide a brief introduction to informal care systems research. He also will lead the panel discussion of strategies for better integrating VA informal caregivers and the methodologic challenges of doing research in this area.
Maria Silveira, workshop coordinator, will review the demographics of caregiving in the US, discuss the literature on caregiving for cancer patients, and describe a project to evaluate an intervention to assist caregivers of veterans receiving chemotherapy.
Ann-Marie Rosland will present a systematic review of the literature concerning how spouse and family interaction styles may affect outcomes for adults with chronic illness, including insights into the quality of prior research and lessons applicable to future interventions.
Kenneth Langa will present findings about informal caregiving and future research opportunities using the Health and Retirement Study, a longitudinal study sponsored by the National Institute on Aging that surveys a nationally representative sample of more than 22,000 Americans over the age of 50.
Mary Ann Gregor will describe two pilot projects evaluating an intervention designed to increase the involvement of out-of-home caregivers of veterans with heart failure or diabetes, and will discuss a recently funded VA trial.
Target Audience:
Clinicians and health services researchers with an interest in strategies for improving chronic illness care for older veterans.
Assumed Audience Familiarity with Topic:
Audience members will be assumed to have a basic understanding of: available supports for chronic illness care in VA, survey and interventional research methods, and the goals of chronic illness self-management support.
