Caregiver Characteristics and Barriers to Resource Use: Findings From a Rural State Caregiver Survey.

Despite the key role family caregivers play in the US healthcare system, they are not systematically identified and tracked, limiting our knowledge about this important group. Our objective was to identify caregiver characteristics and barriers to service delivery in a primarily rural state. As part of a quality improvement project, a cross-sectional online survey was fielded in clinical and community settings.

Mixed-Methods Study of End-of-Life Experiences of Patients With Hematologic Malignancies in Social Hospice Residential Home Care Settings.

Purpose: Hospice is underutilized by patients with hematologic malignancies (HM), and when patients are referred, they are typically more ill, hospitalized, and with shorter length of stay (LOS) than patients with solid tumors (ST), limiting research about home hospice care experiences of patients with HM. In this mixed-methods study, we examined the hospice experiences of patients with HM who died at residential care homes (RCHs), home-based settings in which volunteer caregivers and hospice staff provide end-of-life (EOL) care under the social hospice model.

Methods: We queried a registry of 535 hospice patients who died at RCHs between 2005 and 2020 that included quantitative medication administration data as well as qualitative data from hospice intake forms and written volunteer caregiver narratives.

Social Model Hospice Residential Care Homes: Whom Do They Really Serve?

Background: Most prefer to die at home, but the Medicare Hospice Benefit does not cover custodial care, making it difficult for terminally ill patients with housing insecurity and/or caregiver instability to access hospice care at home.

Objectives: To examine the characteristics of patients who received end-of-life care in community-run, residential care homes (RCHs) operating under the social model hospice.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of 500 residents who were admitted to one of three RCHs in Upstate New York over a 15-year period (2004-2019).

Engaging Future Healthcare Professionals as Caregivers to Hospice Patients in Comfort Care Homes.

Most people wish to die at home yet significant barriers exist in accessing care in one's home, especially for individuals with caregiver and/or housing instability. Across the U.S.

Comfort Care Homes: Pressures and Protocols in End-of-Life Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Comfort care homes are community-run, residential homes that provide end-of-life care to terminally ill individuals who lack safe, secure housing and a reliable caregiver system. As nonprofit, non-medical facilities, these homes have faced both new and magnified challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This article highlights the value of collaborative interagency partnerships and shares reflections on the unique pandemic pressures faced by comfort care homes.

Providing End-of-Life Care: Increased Empathy and Self-efficacy Among Student Caregivers in Residential Homes for the Dying.

Background: Health-care providers report a lack of training in end-of-life care and limited opportunities exist to learn about the dying process in home settings where most prefer to die.

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of a Community Action, Research, and Education (CARE) program designed to promote empathy and self-efficacy communicating with and caring for terminally ill patients.

Methods: This mixed-methods study collected pre-post data from 18 undergraduates (7 men≤ 11 women) in a 8-week immersive program where they served as primary caregivers in residential homes for the dying providing 200 hours of bedside care to hospice patients during their final days.

Perceptions of neighborhood safety and depressive symptoms among older minority urban subsidized housing residents: the mediating effect of sense of community belonging.

Objectives: Older minority subsidized housing residents represent a population that is particularly vulnerable to depression. Although research suggests that neighborhood characteristics influence older adults' mental health, it has not been explored in this target population. Drawing on social disorganization and social capital theories, this study's aim was to explore if perceptions of neighborhood safety are associated with depressive symptoms; and, whether a sense of community belonging has a mediating effect on this potential relationship.

Loneliness and Depression Among Older Adults in Urban Subsidized Housing.

Objective: Depression is particularly prevalent in low-income and disabled older adults, and minority populations face a greater risk of poverty and earlier disability onset. Yet, little is known about the mental health of older subsidized housing residents, a population which is disproportionately composed of persons of color. The study's aim was therefore to explore the prevalence and correlates of depression in this target population, with a particular focus on the role of loneliness.

Understanding the relationship between school-based health center use, school connection, and academic performance.

School-based health centers (SBHCs) benefit the overall health of underserved communities. In fact, there is an abundance of evidence suggesting the positive effects that SBHCs have on physical and mental health. However, research related to understanding the relationship of SBHCs to academic outcomes such as performance and school connectedness is sparse.