Kub, Joan

Objective: Low-income caregivers of young children with high-risk asthma experience social stressors and illness-related demands that may impede effective home asthma management. Knowledge of the caregiving experience in the context of poverty is limited. Methods: Convenience sampling methods were used to recruit low-income caregivers of children aged 7-12 years, who are frequently in the Emergency Room (ED) for uncontrolled asthma.

Context Patients with terminal illnesses often require surrogate decision makers. Prior research has demonstrated high surrogate stress, and that despite standards promoting substituted judgment, most patients do not want their surrogates to make pure substituted judgments for them. It is not known how best to help loved ones fulfill the surrogate role. Objectives To test the effectiveness of an intervention to help surrogate decision makers.