Mission and Vision of the Multisite VA Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence (EDCoE) for Veteran and Caregiver Research

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Location: 211 CC

CE: 1.5

Chair(s)

Ranak Trivedi, PhD

Assistant Professor
Center for Innovation to Implementation
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California, United States

Slides

Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

Ranak Trivedi, PhD

Assistant Professor
Center for Innovation to Implementation
Stanford University
Palo Alto, California, United States

Slides
Lauren Penney, PhD

Research Health Scientist
Research
South Texas Veterans Health Care System
San Antonio, Texas, United States
Stuti Dang, MD, MPH

Professor of Clinical Medicine
Geriatrics Research Education and Clinical Center (GRECC)
Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System
Miami, Florida, United States
Erin Bouldin, PhD, MPH

Assistant Professor
Department of Internal Medicine
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Enabling Veterans to remain safely in their homes is a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) priority. Informal caregivers play a critical role in supporting Veterans with functional impairments through their own efforts and the use of home and community-based services (HCBS). The Elizabeth Dole Center of Excellence (EDCoE) for Veteran and Caregiver Research was created in 2018 as part of the VA Choose Home Initiative to expand VA capacity to deliver integrated, Veteran- and caregiver-partnered, data-driven approaches to care through a set of complimentary projects. The EDCoE is a virtual center, with its multi-disciplinary team spread across the country at 5 different VA Medical Centers. The team also collaborates with other VA caregiver researchers. Finally, the EDCoE is closely networked with national, regional, and local operational partners, allowing for rapid dissemination of findings. In this symposium, we will first discuss the mission and vision of the EDCoE. We will then discuss multiple projects that are led through the EDCoE. Paper 1 (San Antonio) will identify measurement gaps to guide monitoring and improving HCBS. Paper 2 (Miami/Canandaigua) will describe a national survey of 8000+ Veterans and 3500+ caregivers. Paper 3 (Palo Alto) will describe caregivers’ barriers to accessing VA and non-VA HCBS. Paper 4 (Salt Lake City/Canandaigua) will describe the results of latent trajectory analyses of administrative data to identify groups of Veterans who use different combinations of HCBS and institutional services. Our results are used by VA operational partners and policymakers to improve services for Veterans and informal caregivers.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the role and unmet needs of caregivers who support Veterans with chronic and serious health conditions.
Describe the various strategies currently employed to address these needs and identify programmatic gaps.

Presentations:

2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Unmet Needs and Perceived Barriers to Accessing HCBS Among Caregivers of Veterans of All Eras
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Ranak Trivedi, PhD – Stanford University
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Caregiver-Specific Quality Measures for HCBS: Stakeholder Priorities and Environmental Scan
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Lauren S. Penney, PhD – South Texas Veterans Health Care System
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Measuring Unmet Needs of High-Need, High-Risk American Veterans and Their Caregivers Using a Prospective Survey
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Stuti Dang, MD, MPH – Miami Veterans Affairs Healthcare System
2:30 PM – 4:00 PM ET

Geriatric and Extended Care Trajectories and Transitions Among Veterans with Long-Term Care Needs
Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Erin D. Bouldin, PhD, MPH – University of Utah