Chapter 8 family caregivers of veterans: a critical review of the empirical literature and recommendations for future research.

In recent years, research on caregiving has grown in both quality and quantity. Caregivers play an important role in supporting and promoting the health and recovery of injured, disabled, and ill family members in their care. Although researchers have made a substantial contribution to our understanding of family caregiving, less is known about family caregivers of U.S. Veterans. The purpose of this review is to identify and evaluate the research surrounding caregivers of U.S. Veterans, particularly two populations of Veterans: those who returned from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and those who had suffered a stroke. A search of the available literature from 1987 to present day resulted in a review of 18 publications on Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom caregivers and 19 publications on caregivers of Veterans with stroke. We summarize empirical findings, critique the study methods, and provide our recommendations to improve the quality of care of Veterans and their caregivers.

A Care Paradox: The Relationship Between Older Adults' Caregiving Arrangements and Institutionalization and Mortality.

We investigate how the type of caregiving arrangement is associated with older Americans' outcomes. We use the Health and Retirement Study (2004-2018) and discrete-time event history analysis to assess the odds of institutionalization or death over a 14-year period among older adults with limitations in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs; e.g., bathing). We consider caregiving arrangements as conventional (i.e., spouse or adult child), unconventional (e.g., extended family, employee, friend), or self-directed (i.e., no caregiver). We find a "care paradox" in that self-directing one's own care was associated with a lower risk of institutionalization or death compared with having conventional care (spouse/adult caregiver) and unconventional care (employee). Relative to conventional care, having an employee caregiver was associated with increased risk of institutionalization. Findings are still observed when controlling for level of impairment and various health-related factors. More research is needed to understand older adults who self-direct their own care.

Thinking through every step: how people with spinal cord injuries relearn to walk.

In this article we explore how people with incomplete spinal cord injury (iSCI) create meaning out of their changing bodies as they undergo a therapeutic intervention called locomotor training (LT). Therapeutic interventions like LT are used to promote the recovery of walking ability among individuals with iSCI. The chronological nature of this study--interviews at three points throughout the 12-week intervention--enhances understanding of the recovering self after spinal cord injury. Drawing on a constructivist theoretical framework, we organize data according to three narrative frames. Participants interpreted LT as (a) a physical change that was meaningful because of its social significance, (b) a coping strategy for dealing with the uncertainty of long-term recovery, and (c) a moral strategy to reconstitute the self. We offer findings that lay the conceptual groundwork for generating new knowledge about what is important to people with iSCI as they relearn how to walk.

The RESCUE problem solving intervention for stroke caregivers: A mixed-methods pilot study.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Stroke caregivers face many challenges after a family member experiences stroke. Because caregivers play such a crucial role in health care, there is a need for more interventions in web-based formats that focus on caregiver psycho-education and skills building. A pilot study was devised to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and value of an active, 4-week telephone and web-based intervention for stroke caregivers. METHOD/DESIGN: A one-group, pretest-posttest design with a mixed-methods approach was used. Qualitative data supplemented the quantitative findings. Community-dwelling caregivers of stroke patients were recruited from the Veterans Health Administration. Quantitative data were collected pre and postintervention. Semistructured interviews were completed with a subsample of caregivers to capture more detail about the acceptability and value of the intervention. RESULTS: Ninety-three caregivers were recruited; 72 caregivers completed the intervention and 21 withdrew (77% completion rate). From pre- to posttest, caregiver depression (p = .008) and caregiver burden (p = .013) decreased. Problem-solving abilities and health-related quality of life showed no change. Seventy-eight percent of caregivers rated the intervention sessions with the nurses as very helpful or extremely helpful, and 76% reported using the problem-solving strategies a moderate amount to extremely often. Interviews suggest that the intervention was valuable and led to new strategies to relieve stress and prioritize health. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The intervention was feasible to implement and acceptable to caregivers. This intervention shows promise for fulfilling a need for more web-based interventions that focus on skills building and psycho-education, but more rigorous testing is needed to determine effectiveness. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).