Family Caregiving

Office of Applied Gerontology Program of Research 

It is now well documented that family members provide 80% of long term care. In most cases, many family members are unprepared for the caregiving role. This, coupled with the shortage of long-term care workers and limited public support, makes current the need to support family caregivers in an efficient and effective manner.

2008 Next Step Think Tank: "Partnerships in Aging and Family Caregiving: Getting Innovation Into Practice" 

The Center on Age and Community will hold its 2008 Next Step Think Tank, "Partnerships in Aging and Family Caregiving: Getting Innovation Into Practice" on May 16, from 9 a.m.-11:30 a.m. at UWM's Zelazo Center, 2419 E. Kenwood.  With the field of aging services transforming, innovations are coming from both academic and practical realms. Putting that innovative research into practice is the next step and focus of the 2008 "think in a tank" talk hosted by the Center on Age and Community. Dr. Rhonda Montgomery, Helen Bader Endowed Professor of Applied Gerontology, UWM, facilitates a dozen nationally-renowned and dynamic "out of the box" thinkers whose wide-ranging expertise includes: family caregiving research, culture change in long-term care (LTC), State LTC policy, organizational transitions and community-based aging services.

The Think Tank investigates questions such as:

• How can we help those innovations take hold?
• What is the role of academic and community partnerships in ensuring they do?
• What are the goals of such partnerships?
• What are the best practices in research/practice partnerships?
• What are the resistances and misunderstandings on both sides?

This is a free event but space is limited to 40 to ensure a vigorous dialogue.  On-line registration is now available.

Dr. Rhonda Montgomery and her research team in the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare's Office of Applied Gerontology are working on a research program that will enhance the way long-term care providers support family caregivers. The program includes an extensive and growing network of collaborators that include: academic colleagues from the University of Nebraska Omaha; University of Wisconsin-Extension; University of Washington; Boston University; and partnerships with several state units on aging to include Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and Washington.

The research program includes five linked projects:

• The League of Experienced Family Caregivers (LEFC)
• Tailored Caregiver Assessment and Referral Process (TCARE ©)
• TCARE© Pilot Study
• TCARE© Development of an Evidence Based Curriculum
• National Center for Family Care Initiatives

The League of Experienced Family Caregivers (LEFC)

The League of Experienced Family Caregivers (LEFC), which is funded by the Helen Bader Foundation, is a registry of family caregivers who want to help others by sharing their wisdom about caring for adult family members. Family caregivers who join the registry are invited to complete one or more short questionnaires about their experiences as a caregiver. The information gathered from the questionnaires has assisted Dr. Montgomery and her research team with developing and testing measures of caregiver needs.

If you are currently caring for an adult family member and would like to join the registry, please visit the project website at https://www3.uwm.edu/dept/lefc/index.cfm or call the project team at 1-800-410-2586.

To learn about the latest LEFC developments, please download a copy of the November, 2007 newsletter (in PDF format) by clicking here:

Tailored Caregiver Assessment and Referral (TCARE)

Dr. Montgomery, her research team, and academic colleagues have developed Ucare, a tailored assessment and referral process. The process, which is grounded in the caregiver identity theory, articulated by Dr. Montgomery and her colleague Dr. Karl Kosloski, provides care managers with tools and protocols for working with family caregivers. The tools include an assessment form, which was created with knowledge gained from the LEFC, and forms that assist care managers with interpreting assessments. In addition, the protocol includes guides that assist care managers with identifying appropriate goals, strategies for meeting goals, and guides for developing family care plans.

In order to assist care managers with identifying community service providers that can deliver recommended services, Dr. Mary Brintnall-Peterson from UW-Extension is working with select communities to develop community resource guides. The resource guides are designed to provide care managers with specific and up to date information about community service providers.

TCARE Training

Dr. Montgomery is working with several states that are interested in being trained with the TCARE Protocol. She has developed a training team (pictured at right with Cliff Burt from Georgia Division of Aging Services) that includes Jeannine Rowe, Mary Brintnall-Peterson, herself, and Dale Alder. Together the team has trained over 40 care managers in Georgia, Florida, and Wisconsin with the Ucare protocol. The team has plans to conduct additional trainings in Michigan, Washington, and Minnesota later this year.

TCARE Pilot Study

Dr. Montgomery and her research team are conducting a pilot study in Trempealeau County, Wisconsin to test the implementation of the TCARE protocol and the development of a community resources guide. It is expected that the outcomes from this pilot study will assist the training team with refining their training process. It is also expected that outcomes related to the development of a community resource guide will assist with developing computerized resource guides that can be linked to the TCARE protocol.

TCARE: Development of an Evidence Based Curriculum

Dr. Montgomery and her research team are conducting a controlled design study of the TCARE protocol. The research team will conduct both a process and outcome evaluation. Specifically, researchers will measure the level of accuracy with TCARE implementation as well as care manager and caregiver outcomes. The study, which began in December 2006, is being conducted in collaboration with the two chapters of the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Association: Greater Wisconsin and South Central.

Plans are underway to conduct a randomized control study design to evaluate the impact of TCARE with four Area Agencies on Aging in the State of Georgia. The research team hopes to begin the study in fall 2007.

National Center for Family Care Initiatives

Dr. Montgomery received funding from the Hartford Foundation to expand the LEFC. She is currently working with colleagues at the University of Washington and Boston University to expand the registry, which will serve as a cornerstone for the creation of a National Center for Family Care Initiatives. This center will serve as a bridge between the worlds of research and practice. The core activities of the center will focus on creating a data resource and an infrastructure that will strengthen the capacity of the social work profession to provide leadership in the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative models and systems of care that support the independence, dignity, health, and quality of life of older adults and their families.

"Learning From You": The Impact of Powerful Tools for Caregivers (PTC) on Spouse/Partner Caregivers

With funding obtained through the Hartford Foundation's Geriatric Social Work Faculty Scholars Program, Dr. Marie Savundranayagam, working through the Office of Applied Gerontology, is conducting a study to evaluate the impact that the "Powerful Tools for Caregivers" curriculum has on caregiver's lives. The PTC program is a six-week psycho educational program that is widely available to caregivers throughout the country. The PTC program teaches a variety of coping strategies such as managing emotions, communicating effectively and self-care.

Dr. Savundranaygam's study, which is called "Learning from You", is a two year project that will gather information from caregivers who participate in the Powerful Tools program, to learn more about the ways that the program helps caregivers in their every day lives. Members of the League of Experienced Family Caregivers (LEFC) will also be given the opportunity to participate in this study by sharing their day-to-day experiences of caregiving. For more information please contact Marie Savundranayagam at maries@uwm.edu or 414.229.6034.

A Grief Intervention Study for Spouses of Person's with Moderate to Severe Alzheimer's Disease

Carol Ott, Professor of Nursing, hired Carrie Schauer, a senior social work major and Landon Krautkramer, a junior undergraduate pre med student, and several research assistants to to examine whether a tailored grief intervention, Easing the Way (ETW), based on Marwit-Meuser-Sanders Caregiver Grief Model can decrease grief (i.e., heartfelt sadness and longing, worry and isolation, and/or personal sacrifice burden) and stress, increase coping, support, and quality of life as evidence by changes in mental health and positive states of mind. The overall intent of the study is to improve assessment and treatment of family member's high levels of grief toward the end of their loved one's life. Previous grief research indicates that high levels of grief experienced over long periods of time may result in increased physical and mental health problems, increased health care costs, and increased mortality. The manual developed from Dr. Ott's previous descriptive study of grief in spouses and adult children of persons with dementia will be the basis of the intervention.

The manual, A Guide to Supporting Family Caregivers Through the Alzheimer's Disease Trajectory: Grief and Personal Growth, is available for free download on our products page.