Research Interests
Health services research, health economics, health policy, aging, mental health, social determinants of health, family-centered care
Selected Grants
Understanding Disparities in Dementia Care Access and Quality
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Alzheimer's Association · 2024 - 2026Reconceptualizing the experiences of caregiving for older adults: developing items to inform a caregiver-centered assessment survey to improve caregiver services and supports
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Retirement Research Foundation · 2024 - 2026Improving the lives of persons living with dementia and their families through person-centered measurement of home time
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2025Informing public policy support for family caregivers based on typologies of need
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers · 2022 - 2024Caregivers' Reactions and Experience: Imaging Dementia-Evidence for Amyloid Scanning-CARE IDEAS
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Brown University · 2017 - 2023Campaign for Inclusive Care
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Elizabeth Dole Foundation · 2018 - 2022Evaluating Outcomes of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving (RCI) Caregiver Support Programs
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Georgia Southwestern Foundation, Inc. · 2020 - 2021Evaluation of Operation Family Caregiver
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Georgia Southwestern State University · 2019 - 2020Campaign for Inclusive Care
ResearchJunior Investigator · Awarded by Elizabeth Dole Foundation · 2018 - 2019Fellowships, Gifts, and Supported Research
COURAGE ·
2023
- 2025
Co-Investigator ·
Awarded by: VA National Oncology Program
· $941,198.00
COURAGE will build research capacity to advance innovative research to evaluate access, quality, outcomes and implementation of programs to support women Veterans. The Center will achieve its mission by supporting a comprehensive spectrum of investigator-initiated and collaborative team science, and foster the development of basic, translation, and clinical research aimed at improving patient cancer across the cancer care continuum.
CompreHEnsive ViRtual Care for WOmen VEteranS (HEROES) ·
2022
- 2026
Co-Investigator ·
Awarded by: VA HSR
· $1,176,137.00
The major goal of this project is to develop a novel implementation blueprint for the virtual delivery of women-specific (eg., postpartum depression) and sex-influenced (eg., heart disease) preventive health care and clinical disorders (eg., chronic disease management) for Women Veteran. The product will be a patient-centered implementation blueprint co-designed with key systems partners that serves to guide when and how to incorporate appropriate virtual care for facility-level women’s health programs.
Use of high cost care among Veterans with comorbid mental illness and Alzheimer’s and related dementia ·
2022
- 2023
Principle ·
Awarded by: Johns Hopkins HEADS Center
· $25,000.00
This study describes differences in potentially low value health care among older Veterans with ADRD 12 months after a new ADRD diagnosis. Veterans with mental illness (MI) pre-ADRD diagnosis (major depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or generalized anxiety disorder) are compared to Veterans without pre-existing MI.
Evaluation of Veteran and Needs for VA-Provided Childcare Assistance ·
2022
- 2023
Project Director ·
Awarded by: VA QUERI
· $80,206.00
The purpose of this project is to collect primary data on Veterans’ needs for childcare when they attend VA medical appointments; existing sources of childcare; whether they have received sub-optimal health care due to childcare challenges; the perceived importance of VA childcare assistance, likelihood of use, and perceived concerns by contacting eligible Veteran VA patients. This is in direct response to a congressional request (Title V Deborah Sampson Act, Section 5107(a)). The data collected from this project will address key questions from Congress regarding Veteran need for childcare assistance and how VA can best meet that need to improve Veterans’ access, utilization, and satisfaction with VA care.
VA Caregiver Support Evaluation Center (VA-Cares Evaluation Center) ·
2022
- 2027
Project Director ·
Awarded by: VA QUERI
· $2,894,331.00
The VA-CARES Evaluation Center, in collaboration with the Caregiver Support Program (CSP), evaluates the impacts of The Comprehensive Program and The General Program on Veteran and caregivers. This evaluation will use a multiple and mixed methods approach and rich data sources to provide a full evaluation of VA CSP short-term impacts, including utilization patterns, detailing full delivery costs of the program, perceived financial and emotional strain of caregivers and their families and perceived helpfulness of the programs, challenges, and/or unmet needs.
Getting Our Veteran Access to Mental Health Services Through Enabling Resources and Family Support: GO VA FAMILIES ·
2019
- 2024
Principle Investigator ·
Awarded by: VA HSR (Career Development Award)
· $760,699.15
The goal of this project is to refine a brief, family-involved intervention to help Veterans with PTSD engage in evidenced-based psychotherapy treatment. Using a mixed methods approach that employs survey, VA administrative, and interview data, we will examine family and Veteran factors that enable Veteran engagement in mental health treatment. These results will be used to refine the intervention which will be piloted to a total of 15 Veteran and family member dyads. The intervention will education Veterans and family members about evidenced-based psychotherapies and will increase Veteran willingness to engage through family support.
Advancing Science of Population-based measures of independence to help Veterans remain at Home ·
2019
- 2024
Co-Investigator ·
Awarded by: VA HSR
· $497,659.00
To support Veterans’ desire to remain in their homes as they age, population health measures of quality of life should reflect time spent at home. The goal of this project is to build upon our past work on evaluating administrative home time measures (e.g., days alive and not in an acute or post-acute care setting) to develop a person-centered definition of home time that reflects high quality of life and a shared understanding of its clinical utility. We will use qualitative and quantitative methods to consider both stakeholder (caregivers, Veterans) and data-driven perspectives.
Integrating Health and Social Services for Veterans by Empowering Family Caregivers ·
2019
- 2020
Princip ·
Awarded by: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
· $100,000.00
Injured war veterans face substantial barriers to maintaining employment, high levels of family strain, homelessness, and extensive unmet physical and mental health needs. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers a range of medical, public health, and social services to eligible veterans; however, these services reside within distinct bureaus leading to service fragmentation, poor alignment with veteran needs, and variability in access across medical centers. Federal funding was approved in 2010 to establish a national program to provide veterans’ caregivers with training on how to navigate the VA system, function as a care team member, and improve clinical skills. Evidence from the initial group of enrollees showed that veterans whose family caregivers participated in the program utilized more primary, specialty, and mental health services than did those whose caregivers did not participate. While use of health services increased, data regarding the influence of family caregivers on veterans’ use of social services is still needed. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, this one-year developmental study specifically investigates the effect of institutional support for family caregivers on veterans’ use of vocational rehabilitation and educational social services. Study findings elucidate key contextual and scalable features of institutional support for family caregivers that can reduce system inefficiencies through improved services coordination.