CAREN logo

You are here

  1. Home
  2. Shepherd-Banigan, Megan

Shepherd-Banigan, Megan

Measurement Properties of the CAPACITY Instrument to Assess Perceived Communication With the Health Care Team Among Care Partners of Patients With Cognitive Impairment

Background: The CAregiver Perceptions About CommunIcaTion with Clinical Team members (CAPACITY) instrument measures how care partners perceive themselves to be supported by the patient's health care team and their experiences communicating with the team.

Fri, 12/11/2020 - 17:55

Family Caregiver Skills Training to Improve Experiences of Care: a Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Helping Invested Families Improve Veterans' Experiences Study (HI-FIVES), a skills training program for caregivers of persons with functional or cognitive impairments. Design: A two-arm RCT. Setting: Single Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Participants: Patients and their primary caregivers referred in the past 6 months to home and community-based services or geriatrics clinic. Intervention: All caregivers received usual care.

Thu, 01/23/2020 - 12:56

Adaptation and Implementation of a Family Caregiver Skills Training Program: From Single Site RCT to Multisite Pragmatic Intervention

Purpose We describe an approach to rapidly adapt and implement an education and skills improvement intervention to address the needs of family caregivers of functionally impaired veterans-Helping Invested Families Improve Veterans' Experience Study (HI-FIVES).

Tue, 12/17/2019 - 14:40

Comprehensive Family Caregiver Support and Caregiver Well-Being: Preliminary Evidence From a Pre-post-survey Study With a Non-equivalent Control Group

Introduction: In May 2010, the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010, was signed into law in the United States, establishing the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) provided through the VA Caregiver Support Program (CSP). Prior to this program, over half of family caregivers reported being untrained for the tasks they needed to provide.

Wed, 09/25/2019 - 17:28

Connecting Caregivers to Support: Lessons Learned From the VA Caregiver Support Program

Development and evaluation of supportive caregiver interventions has become a national priority. This study's aim was to evaluate how caregivers participating in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Caregiver Support Program (CSP) use and value supportive services. Qualitative semi-structured interviews ( N = 50 caregivers) were the core of a mixed-methods design, and surveys ( N = 160) were supplemental.

Mon, 09/09/2019 - 11:49

Comprehensive Support for Family Caregivers: Impact on Veteran Health Care Utilization and Costs

This study aimed to examine the early impact of the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) on Veteran health care utilization and costs. A pre-post cohort design including a nonequivalent control group was used to understand how Veterans' use of Veteran Affairs health care and total health care costs changed in 6-month intervals up to 3 years after PCAFC enrollment. The control group was an inverse probability of treatment weighted sample of Veterans whose caregivers applied for, but were not accepted into, PCAFC.

Tue, 07/02/2019 - 15:50

Invisible partners in care: Snapshot of well-being among caregivers receiving comprehensive support from Veterans Affairs

Background and aims: Since May 2011, over 23 000 caregivers of Veterans seriously injured on or after September 11, 2001 have enrolled in the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC). PCAFC provides caregivers training, a stipend, and access to health care. The aim of this study is to describe the characteristics of caregivers in PCAFC and examine associations between caregiver characteristics and caregiver well-being outcomes.; Methods: We sent a web survey invitation to 10 000 PCAFC caregivers enrolled as of September 2015.

Wed, 06/26/2019 - 11:51

Family caregiver use and value of support services in the VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers

Context: The US Congress in 2010 established the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) healthcare system, expanding services for family caregivers of eligible veterans with injuries sustained or aggravated in the line of duty on or after 11 September 2001. The program includes a Caregiver Support Coordinator, stipends for caregivers, education/training, and additional services.

Sat, 05/04/2019 - 12:15

The Effect of Support and Training for Family Members on Access to Outpatient Services for Veterans with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

The VA Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) provides landmark support for family caregivers of post-9/11 veterans. This study examines PCAFC support for veterans with and without PTSD and assesses whether program effect differs by PTSD status using a pre-post, non-equivalent, propensity score weighted comparison group design (n = 24,280). Veterans with and without PTSD in PCAFC accessed more mental health, primary, and specialty care services than weighted comparisons.

Tue, 11/20/2018 - 12:35