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- Title
Measuring the unmet needs of American military Veterans and their caregivers: Survey protocol of the HERO CARE survey.
- Authors
Dang, Stuti; Garcia‐Davis, Sandra; Noël, Polly H.; Hansen, Jared; Brintz, Benjamin J.; Munoz, Richard; Valencia Rodrigo, Willy Marcos; Rupper, Rand; Bouldin, Erin D.; Trivedi, Ranak; Penney, Lauren S.; Pugh, Mary Jo; Kinosian, Bruce; Intrator, Orna; Leykum, Luci K.
- Abstract
Background: Empowering Veterans to age in place is a Department of Veterans Affairs priority. Family or unpaid caregivers play an important role in supporting Veterans to achieve this goal. Effectively meeting the needs of Veterans and caregivers requires identifying unmet needs and relevant gaps in resources to address those needs. Methods: Using a modified Socio‐Ecological Model, we developed a prospective longitudinal panel design survey. We randomly selected 20,000 community‐dwelling Veterans enrolled in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), across five VHA sites. We oversampled Veterans with a higher predicted 2‐year long‐term institutional care (LTIC) risk. Veterans were mailed a packet containing a Veteran survey and a caregiver survey, to be answered by their caregiver if they had one. The Veteran survey assessed the following health‐related domains: physical, mental, social determinants of health, and caregiver assistance. Caregivers completed questions regarding their demographic factors, caregiving activities, impact of caregiving, use of VA and non‐VA services, and caregiver support resources. Follow‐up surveys will be repeated twice at 12‐month intervals for the same respondents. This article describes the HERO CARE survey protocol, content, and response rates. Results: We received responses from 8,056 Veterans and 3,579 caregivers between July 2021 and January 2022, with 95.6% being received via mail. Veteran respondents were mostly males (96.5%), over 65 years of age (94.9%), married (55.0%), Non‐Hispanic White (75.2%), and residing in urban areas (80.7%). Conclusions: This longitudinal survey is unique in its comprehensive assessment of domains relevant to older Veterans stratified by LTIC risk and their caregivers, focusing on social determinants, caregiver support, and the use of caregiver support resources. Survey data will be linked to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and VA data. The results of this study will inform better planning of non‐institutional care services and policy for Veterans and their caregivers.
- Subjects
AMERICAN veterans; SERVICES for caregivers; CAREGIVERS; ACTIVE aging; SURVEYS; RESOURCE allocation; RESEARCH funding; NEEDS assessment; MILITARY personnel
- Publication
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2023, Vol 71, Issue 12, p3814
- ISSN
0002-8614
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/jgs.18577