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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Informal caregivers

Preferences for Long-Term Care Arrangements among Rural and Urban Older Adults
Describes long-term care preferences of 4,333 older people with functional limitations. Features statistics on characteristics of respondents, with breakdowns by urban or rural location.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, John Mulcahy, Megan Lahr, Jill Tanem
Date: 05/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Meeting the Challenge of Caring for Persons Living with Dementia and Their Care Partners and Caregivers: A Way Forward
Examines the existing evidence on care interventions, services, and supports for people with dementia and their caregivers. Discusses gaps in the current evidence base and opportunities for future research. Describes interventions that can be implemented in a variety of settings to continue to expand the evidence base. Includes rural references and considerations throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 02/2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Reducing the Impact of Dementia in America: A Decadal Survey of the Behavioral and Social Sciences
Summarizes results of a survey of social and behavioral research on preventing or slowing the development of dementia and reducing its social and economic impact on dementia patients and caregivers. Offers recommendations on research priorities to improve the lives of those affected by dementia. Includes rural references throughout.
Additional links: Read Online
Date: 2021
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
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Challenges and Facilitators of Hospice Decision-making: A Retrospective Review of Family Caregivers of Home Hospice Patients in a Rural US-Mexico Border Region - A Qualitative Study
Highlights a study on hospice care utilization in the rural U.S.-Mexico border region of Southern California. Explores the decisions made by family care givers around hospice care and discusses the factors that shaped those decisions.
Author(s): Eunjeong Ko, Dahlia Fuentes, Savitri Singh-Carlson, Frances Nedjat-Haiem
Citation: BMJ Open, 10(7), e035634
Date: 07/2020
Type: Document
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Caregiving in the U.S. 2020
A national profile of unpaid family caregivers. Describes care recipients' living situations and health status, caregiving activities, caregiver well-being, and related topics. Includes information specific to rural caregivers, with comparisons of their experiences in 2015 and 2020 as well as comparisons to non-rural caregivers' experiences. Also offers profiles of different types of caregivers.
Additional links: Fact Sheet: The "Typical" Caregiver of a Care Recipient Living in a Rural Area, Full Report
Date: 05/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: AARP, National Alliance for Caregiving
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Rural Caregivers: Identification of Informational Needs Through Telemedicine Questions
Explores the scope of dementia-related knowledge among attendees of a caregiving telemedicine program in rural Kentucky. Discusses the educational needs of participants regarding dementia as well as implications for the program and further research for similar programs.
Author(s): Shoshana H. Bardach, Allison Gibson, Kelly Parsons, April Stauffer, Gregory A. Jicha
Citation: Journal of Rural Health, 1-6
Date: 04/2020
Type: Document
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Informal Caregiving and Technology in Rural America
Highlights the challenges caregivers face in rural communities. Discusses how technology can offer potential solutions and identifies barriers to those solutions, such as broadband connectivity. Features Avera Health's eCare Senior Care, which provides a range of technology-assisted care services for assisted living and senior housing programs, as well as long-term care facilities.
Author(s): Tami Lichtenberg
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Study Protocol of Coaching End-of-Life Palliative Care for Advanced Heart Failure Patients and Their Family Caregivers in Rural Appalachia: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Describes a clinical trial to study an end-of-life palliative care program for heart failure patients in rural West Virginia. Discusses the prevalence of heart failure in rural Appalachia and the need for palliative care training for family caregivers.
Author(s): Ubolrat Piamjariyakul, Trisha Petitte, Angel Smothers, et al.
Citation: BMC Palliative Care, 18, 119
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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Supportive Services and Caregiving for Older Rural Adults: Policy Brief and Recommendations to the Secretary
Provides an overview of current supportive services and caregiving policies for rural older adults, in terms of availability, accessibility, and acceptability of services. Explores topics including long-term services and supports, telehealth, care coordination, transportation, stigma, and unpaid caregivers, and describes federal programs for older adults. Offers policy recommendations and considerations.
Date: 08/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services
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In Support of Family Caregivers: A Snapshot of Five States
Examines policies developed in Washington, Minnesota, Hawaii, Tennessee, and Maine to support family caregivers, including those in rural areas. Features demographic characteristics of the states profiled, state expenditures by the Administration for Community Living in FY2016 on older adults and caregivers, and data on state Medicaid policies affecting these groups.
Additional links: Executive Summary
Author(s): Jennifer Aufill, Julia Burgdorf, Jennifer Wolff
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: Milbank Memorial Fund, The John A. Hartford Foundation
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