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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Informal caregivers

Unmet Need for Personal Care Assistance among Rural and Urban Older Adults
Policy brief exploring the unmet need for personal care help across 11 activities, such as self-care, household chores, and mobility-related tasks, with breakdowns by urban and rural location.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, Zhengtian Wu, Megan Lahr
Date: 06/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Perceived Benefits of Peer Support Groups for Stroke Survivors and Caregivers in Rural North Carolina
Describes the experiences of stroke survivors and caregivers in four rural North Carolina counties who participated in peer support groups. Findings based on four focus groups with 32 participants, who were predominantly non-Hispanic, White, and female, with an average age of 67.
Author(s): Erin R. Christensen, Shannon L. Golden, Sabina B. Gesell
Citation: North Carolina Medical Journal, 80(3), 143-148
Date: 2019
Type: Document
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Aging in Appalachia
Episodes of the radio program "Inside Appalachia," exploring challenges faced by elderly people in Appalachia, and the resources available to them. Topics include caregiver shortages, Alzheimer's disease, dying with dignity, and isolation and loneliness.
Date: 2019
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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Resources for Caregiving in Rural Communities
Policy brief describing national and state-level resources being used to support unpaid caregivers in rural areas. Information was gleaned from journal articles, websites, and interviews with 41 informants representing providers, academics, advocacy groups, and others.
Author(s): Megan Lahr, Carrie Henning-Smith
Date: 08/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Perspectives on Rural Caregiving Challenges and Interventions
Policy brief describing challenges and opportunities to support unpaid caregivers in rural areas, based on 34 interviews with 41 key informants, from October 2017 through February 2018. Highlights work that informal caregivers are doing and identifies policy levers that have been used to support them.
Author(s): Carrie Henning-Smith, Megan Lahr
Date: 08/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Using Telehealth to Improve Home-Based Care for Older Adults and Family Caregivers
Describes consumer perspectives and policy concerns with telehealth. Includes examples of home telehealth strategies, potential benefits and challenges, and discussion of home telehealth coverage in federal and state programs, including the Veterans Health Administration, Medicaid, and Medicare.
Author(s): Winifred V. Quinn, Ellen O'Brien, Gregg Springan
Date: 05/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: AARP Public Policy Institute
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Developing a "Toolkit" to Measure Implementation of Concurrent Palliative Care in Rural Community Cancer Centers
Reports on the implementation of an early palliative care telehealth model identified as ENABLE (Educate, Nurture, Advise, Before Life Ends) for patients with recently diagnosed cancer and their caregivers in 4 rural cancer centers. Describes the measures used to determine early palliative care implementation and their development and testing, and the challenges and lessons learned in the implementation process.
Author(s): Lisa Zubkoff, J. Nicholas Dionne-Odom, Maria Pisu, et al.
Citation: Palliative & Supportive Care, 16(1), 60-72
Date: 02/2018
Type: Document
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Engaging Patients and Families to Create a Feasible Clinical Trial Integrating Palliative and Heart Failure Care: Results of the Enable CHF-PC Pilot Clinical Trial
Presents the results of a study to determine the feasibility and site differences in an early palliative care (EPC) trial, the ENABLE CHF-PC (Educate, Nurture, Advise, Before Life Ends Comprehensive Heartcare for Patients and Caregivers). Participants were from rural and underserved areas with diverse socioeconomic and racial backgrounds. Sixty-one patients with advance heart failure and 48 caregivers participated in the program.
Author(s): Marie Bakitas, J. Nicholas Dionne-Odom, Salpy V. Pamboukian, et al.
Citation: BMC Palliative Care, 16(1), 45
Date: 08/2017
Type: Document
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Care Coordination for Community Transitions for Individuals Post-Stroke Returning to Low-Resource Rural Communities
Assesses the Kentucky Care Coordination for Community Transitions (KC3T) program of employing a specially trained community health worker (CHW) as a navigator to aid in the transition of individuals who have had a stroke from acute in-patient care to their rural community. The goal of the study was to determine the community navigation and resources required by people who have had a stroke in order to transition back to rural communities with few resources and to facilitate positive health outcomes.
Author(s): Patrick Kitzman, Keisha Hudson, Violet Sylvia, Johnnie Lovins
Citation: Journal of Community Health, 42(3), 565-572
Date: 06/2017
Type: Document
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Rural Promising Practice Issue Brief: Interdisciplinary Clinical Video - Telehealth for Geriatrics and Dementia
Highlights the development, implementation, and evaluation of an interdisciplinary telehealth program designed to help caregivers provide coordinated care for aging rural veterans suffering from dementia. Discusses the interdisciplinary team model comprised of social workers, geriatricians, primary care providers, and rural caregivers coordinating to maintain a uniform level of care. Includes outcomes regarding the increase of access to education and caregiver support, as well as the ability of providers to prescribe medication to rural patients.
Additional links: Overview
Date: 05/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Veterans Health Administration's Office of Rural Health
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