Faculty Bibliography

Despite high-intensity caregiving support, those with dementia may experience adverse consequences because the care they receive does not match their care needs. This study evaluates the relationship between content of care (i.e., specific assistance with toileting) and adverse consequences (i.e., toileting accidents because no one was there to help) in a population of community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries with dementia and impairment in toileting enrolled in the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS). Only two thirds of individuals received specific assistance with toileting, which was associated with a reduced risk of adverse consequences related to toileting in a multivariable model adjusted for key variables including high-intensity caregiving (odds ratio [OR] = 0.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.23, 0.58]). To ensure care meets the needs of those with dementia living in the community, it is important to consider not only the quantity but also the content of care received.

PURPOSE:Older adults with dementia often rely on both paid caregivers (ie, home health aides, personal care attendants, other direct care workers) and family caregivers (ie, spouses, children, other unpaid individuals) to remain in the community. This study conceptualizes paid caregivers as part of the collaborative dementia care team and examines the association between receipt of paid care and primary family caregiver experience. METHODS:Using data from 3 waves (2011, 2015, and 2017) of the National Health and Aging Trends Study linked to the National Study of Caregiving, community-dwelling Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥67 years with advanced dementia (n = 338 observations) were identified. Primary family caregiver experiences were compared among those with zero, part-time (<40 hours/week), and full-time (≥40 hours/week) paid care, and multivariable models were used to evaluate the associations between full-time paid care and family caregiver strain (eg, being overwhelmed due to caregiving) and activity restriction (eg, being unable to work for pay due to caregiving). FINDINGS:About one half of the community-dwelling older adults with advanced dementia received paid care: 30% had part-time paid care and 18% had full-time paid care. The experiences of family caregivers of those receiving part-time and no paid care were not significantly different. After adjusting for family caregiver and care recipient characteristics, receipt of full-time paid care was associated with a nearly 70% reduced odds of having activity restrictions due to caregiving (odds ratio, 0.31; P = 0.01) and a reduction in mean caregiver strain score (-0.73; P = 0.04). There was no statistically significantly association between the odds of high caregiver strain (score ≥5) and receipt of paid care (odds ratio, 0.65; P = 0.33). IMPLICATIONS:The provision of paid care for individuals with dementia in the community may benefit family caregivers. Future work should acknowledge the important ways that paid caregivers contribute to outcomes for all members of the collaborative dementia care team.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Evaluations of complex models of care for older adults may benefit from simultaneous assessment of intervention implementation. The STRIDE (Strategies To Reduce Injuries and Develop confidence in Elders) pragmatic trial evaluated the effectiveness of a multifactorial intervention to reduce serious fall injuries in older adults. We conducted multi-level stakeholder interviews to identify barriers to STRIDE intervention implementation and understand efforts taken to mitigate these barriers. DESIGN:Qualitative interviews with key informants. SETTING:Ten clinical trial sites affiliated with practices that provided primary care for persons at increased risk for fall injuries. PARTICIPANTS:Specially trained registered nurses working as Falls Care Managers (FCMs) who delivered the intervention (n = 13 individual interviews), Research Staff who supervised trial implementation locally (n = 10 group interviews, 23 included individuals), and members of Central Project Management and the National Patient Stakeholder Council who oversaw national implementation (n = 2 group interviews, six included individuals). MEASUREMENTS:A semi-structured interview guide derived from the consolidated framework for implementation research (CFIR). RESULTS:We identified eight key barriers to STRIDE intervention implementation. FCMs navigated complex relationships with patients and families while working with Research Staff to implement the intervention in primary care practices with limited clinical space, variable provider buy-in, and significant primary care practice staff and provider turnover. The costs of the intervention to individual patients and medical practices amplified these barriers. Efforts to mitigate these barriers varied depending on the needs and opportunities of each primary care setting. CONCLUSION:The many barriers to implementation and the variability in how stakeholders addressed these locally may have affected the overall STRIDE intervention's effectiveness. Future pragmatic trials should incorporate simultaneous implementation aims to better understand how research interventions translate into clinical care that improves the lives of older adults.

This cohort study compares family caregiver hours provided to those with vs without dementia during the last 10 years of life.

IMPORTANCE:A large and growing population of older adults with multimorbidity, cognitive impairment, and functional disability live in the community, but many never or rarely leave their homes. Being homebound is associated with decreased access to medical services, poor health outcomes, and increased mortality. Yet, it is unknown what factors, in particular socioeconomic factors, are associated with new onset of homebound status. OBJECTIVE:To evaluate the association between income and risk of becoming homebound. DESIGN:Observational cohort study using 2011 to 2018 data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, a nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older. SETTING:Population-based study in the United States. PARTICIPANTS:A total of 7,042 initially nonhomebound community-dwelling older adults. EXPOSURE:Total annual household income at baseline (in 2011) measured via self-report. OUTCOME:Annual measure of homebound status, defined as leaving home an average of 1 d/wk or less. RESULTS:Over 7 years, 15.81% of older adults in the lowest income quartile (≤$15,003) became homebound, compared with only 4.64% of those in the highest income quartile (>$60,000). In a competing risks analysis accounting for risks of death and nursing home admission, and adjusted for clinical and demographic characteristics, those in the lowest income quartile had a substantially higher subhazard of becoming homebound than those in the highest income quartile (1.65; 95% confidence interval = 1.20-2.29). Moreover, we see evidence of a gradient in risk of homebound status by income quartile. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE:Our work demonstrates that financial resources shape the risk of becoming homebound, which is associated with negative health consequences. In the context of existing income disparities, more support is needed to assist older adults with limited financial resources who wish to remain in the community.

The homebound population relies on both paid and family caregivers to meet their complex care needs. In order to examine the association between intensity of caregiving support and leaving the home, we identified a population of community-dwelling, homebound Medicare beneficiaries age ≥65 (n = 1,852) enrolled in the 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study and measured the support they received from paid and family caregivers. Those who had ≥20 h of caregiving support per week had 50% less odds of being "exclusively homebound" (rarely or never leave home) (OR 0.56, p < .01). Policies that facilitate increased support for family caregivers and better access to paid caregivers may allow homebound individuals who would otherwise be isolated at home to utilize existing community-based long-term care services and supports.

OBJECTIVES:Paid caregivers (eg, home health aides and personal care attendants) provide hands-on care that helps individuals with dementia live in the community. This study (a) characterizes paid caregiving among community-dwelling individuals with dementia and (b) identifies factors associated with receipt of paid care. DESIGN:Cross-sectional analysis. SETTING:The 2015 National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), a nationally representative study of Medicare recipients aged 65 years and older. PARTICIPANTS:Community-dwelling individuals with dementia (n = 899). MEASUREMENTS:Paid and family caregiving support was determined by participant or proxy report of help received with functional tasks. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with receipt of paid care. NHATS population sampling weights were used to produce national paid caregiving prevalence estimates. RESULTS:Only 25.5% of community-dwelling individuals with dementia received paid care, and 10.8% received 20 hours or more of paid care per week. For those who received it, paid care accounted for approximately half of the 83 total caregiving hours (paid and family) that they received each week. Among the subgroup of individuals with advanced dementia (those with impairment in dressing, bathing, toileting, and managing medications and finances), nearly half (48.3%) received paid care. Multivariable analysis, adjusting for sociodemographic, family caregiving support, functional, and clinical characteristics, found that the odds of receiving paid care were higher among men (odds ratio [OR] = 1.91; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.24-2.95), the unmarried (OR = 2.20; 95% CI = 1.31-3.70), those with Medicaid (OR = 2.16; 95% CI = 1.27-3.66), and those requiring more help with activities of daily living (ADLs) (OR = 1.32; 95% CI = 1.18-1.48) and instrumental ADLs (OR = 1.29; 95% CI = 1.14-1.46). CONCLUSIONS:New ways of making paid caregiving more accessible throughout the income spectrum are required to support family caregivers and respect the preferences of individuals with dementia to remain living in the community. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:186-191, 2019.

Millions of older Americans are homebound and may benefit from home-based medical care. We characterized the receipt of this care among community-dwelling, fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries ages sixty-five and older surveyed in the National Health and Aging Trends Study between 2011 and 2017. Five percent of those surveyed received any home-based medical care between 2011 and 2017 (mean follow-up time per person was 3.4 years), and 75 percent of home-based medical care recipients were homebound. Only 11 percent of the total homebound population (approximately 4.4 million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries in 2017) received any home-based medical care between 2011 and 2017. Receipt of home-based medical care was more common among homebound beneficiaries living in metropolitan areas and assisted living facilities, which suggests that geographic factors create operational efficiencies for home-based medical care practices that may improve their financial sustainability within the fee-for-service reimbursement setting. The significant unmet needs of this high-need, high-cost population and the known health and cost benefits of home-based medical care should spur stakeholders to expand the availability of this care.