Caregiver Experiences Participating in a Home-Based Primary Care Program: A Pragmatic Evaluation Including Qualitative Interviews and Quantitative Surveys

The aim of this evaluation was to assess caregiver experience and burden during their first year in a geriatric home-based primary care (HBPC) program with qualitative interviews and surveys. HBPC included in-home visits for homebound, older adult patients. Seventeen caregivers, with varied amount of experience with HBPC, participated in semi-structured interviews. Change in caregiver burden from baseline was captured for 44 caregivers at 3 months post-enrollment, 27 caregivers at 6 months, and 22 caregivers at 12 months. Satisfaction survey was administered at these timepoints, but the last response of 48 caregivers was analyzed. Caregiver interviews revealed three themes: caregiving stressors, reliance on HBPC in relation to other medical care, and healthcare in the home. Surveyed caregivers were highly satisfied, but burden did not change substantially over the 1 year intervention. Caregivers appreciated HBPC reduced patient transportation and provided satisfactory primary care, but additional research is needed to tailor this care to reduce caregiver burden.

Care Disruptions and End-Of-Life Care Experiences Among Home-Based Primary Care Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic in New York City: A Retrospective Chart Review

Background: Research on deaths during COVID-19 has largely focused on hospitals and nursing homes. Less is known about medically complex patients receiving care in the community. We examined care disruptions and end-of-life experiences of homebound patients receiving home-based primary care (HBPC) in New York City during the initial 2020 COVID-19 surge. Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients enrolled in Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors who died between March 1-June 30, 2020. We collected patient sociodemographic and clinical data and analyzed care disruptions and end-of-life experiences using clinical notes, informed by thematic and narrative analysis. Results: Among 1300 homebound patients, 112 (9%) died during the study period. Patients who died were more likely to be older, non-Hispanic white, and have dementia than those who survived. Thirty percent of decedents had confirmed or probable COVID-19. Fifty-eight (52%) were referred to hospice and 50 enrolled. Seventy-three percent died at home. We identified multiple intersecting disruptions in family caregiving, paid caregiving, medical supplies and services, and hospice care, as well as hospital avoidance, complicating EOL experiences. The HBPC team responded by providing clinical, logistical and emotional support to patients and families. Conclusion: Despite substantial care disruptions, the majority of patients in our study died at home with support from their HBPC team as the practice worked to manage care disruptions. Our findings suggest HBPC's multi-disciplinary, team-based model may be uniquely suited to meet the needs of the most medically and socially vulnerable older adults at end of life during public health emergencies.

Assessing the wellbeing of family caregivers of multimorbid and homebound older adults-A scoping literature review

BACKGROUND

The prevalence of homebound older adults in the United States more than doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic with greater burden on family caregivers. Higher caregiver burden, more specifically higher treatment burden, contributes to increased rates of nursing home placement. There exist a multitude of tools to measure caregiver well-being and they vary substantially in their focus. Our primary aim was to perform a scoping literature review to identify tools used to assess the facets of caregiver well-being experienced by caregivers of persons with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) with a special focus on those caregivers of homebound adult patients.

METHODS

The search was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) extension for scoping reviews. After refining search terms, searches were performed of the peer-reviewed and gray literature.

RESULTS

After removal of duplicate studies, a total of 5534 total articles were screened for relevance to our study. After all screening and review were completed, 377 total articles remained for full review which included 118 different quantitative tools and 20 different qualitative tools. We identified the 15 most commonly utilized tools in patients with MCC. The Zarit Burden Interview was the most commonly used tool across all of the studies. Of the 377 total studies, only eight of them focused on the homebound population and included 13 total tools.

CONCLUSIONS

Building on prior categorization of well-being tools, our work has identified several tools that can be used to measure caregiver well-being with a specific focus on those caregivers providing support to older adults with MCC. Most importantly, we have identified tools that can be used to measure caregiver well-being of family caregivers providing support to homebound older adults, an ever-growing population who are high cost and high utilizers of health care services.

A national survey of caregiver's own experiences and perceptions of U.S. health care system when addressing their health and caring for an older adult

Background

Caregiving is a demanding role that can negatively impact a person’s health and well-being. As such, adequate access to health care is important for maintaining the family caregiver’s own personal health. The aims of this study were to identify if family caregivers of older adults had more difficulty accessing health care services than non-caregivers and to identify if family caregivers felt access to additional services would be beneficial for maintaining their own personal health care.

Methods

National survey of 3026 US adults aged 30 to 89 years old. Participants were grouped based on self-reported caregiving experience. Survey asked about access to care, importance of health care services and whether caregivers had support needed. Descriptive statistics were used to compare caregiver and non-caregiver’s responses. Multivariate logistic regression model assessed correlates of caregivers not having the support they needed.

Results

Caregivers were older, female, lower educational attainment, lower income, had more multiple chronic health conditions and health condition or disability that impacts their daily life. Caregivers reported difficulty accessing mental health services, dental services, medications, and supportive services at home. Caregivers felt it was important to have care coordinator, long-term relationship with primary care provider and access to house calls, telemedicine, and medications delivered to the home. Age, ethnicity, chronic conditions and confidence in finances were factors influencing whether caregiver had support needed to provide assistance to older care recipient.

Conclusion

Caregivers provide needed support and care to older adults while also needing support for themselves. Health care services delivered in the home were highly desirable to caregivers and could help them maintain their health and well-being.

The Association Between Income and Incident Homebound Status Among Older Medicare Beneficiaries

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.

Home and Community-based Services and Life Satisfaction among Homebound and Poor Older Adults

Little evidence exists regarding the role of Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) utilization on life satisfaction among older people who are both homebound and low-income. Guided by the personal-environment (P-E) fit perspective, this study aims to: (1) describe characteristics of older people with homebound and low-income status; (2) investigate how the combination of homebound and low-income status is associated with life satisfaction; and (3) examine whether HCBS utilization moderates the association between homebound and low-income status and life satisfaction. Data were drawn from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study, and the sample included respondents who were 51+ years who completed a questionnaire for HCBS utilization (n= 1,662). Results describe sociodemographic, health-related, and environmental characteristics of older adults. Combined homebound and low-income status was a significant predictor of lower life satisfaction (β = -0.15, p< .05), but better life satisfaction when they used HCBS (β = 0.33, p <.10). These findings suggest that promoting HCBS utilization is a promising strategy to enhance well-being among those homebound and poor. Further studies are needed to test the effectiveness of HCBS with longitudinal data and to investigate the details of effective HCBS utilization such as frequency of use and types of services.

Prognostic subdivision of pT2 rectal carcinomas

PURPOSE

The aim of the present study is to explore the prognostic impact of a subdivision of pT2 by the depth of invasion into the muscularis propria in rectal carcinomas.

METHODS

Data from 269 consecutive patients with rectal carcinoma treated with primary tumor resection and lymph node dissection between 1986 and 2012 were analyzed with respect to locoregional and distant recurrence, disease-free survival, and overall survival. The depth of invasion into the muscularis propria of pT2 carcinomas was categorized by the pathologist into two groups: pT2a, invasion into the inner half of the muscularis propria; pT2b, invasion into the outer half of the muscularis propria.

RESULTS

One hundred nineteen of the 269 patients (44.2%) were classified pT2a and 150 patients (55.8%) were classified pT2b. In univariate analysis, significant differences between pT2a and pT2b carcinomas were found for locoregional recurrences (5-year rates 5.3 vs 14.0%; p = 0.025), distant metastases (14.1 vs 18.7%; p = 0.026), disease-free survival (78.2 vs 62.5%; p = 0.022), and overall survival (87.4 vs 72.5%; p = 0.013). In multivariate Cox regression analysis, the pT2 subdivision was found to be an independent risk factor for locoregional recurrence (hazard ratio 2.6; p = 0.023), disease-free survival (HR 1.4; p = 0.022), and overall survival (HR 1.5; p = 0.020), but only marginally for distant metastasis (HR 1.7; p = 0.083). Other independent prognostic factors were lymph node status, lymphatic invasion, and grading.

CONCLUSIONS

The depth of invasion into the muscularis propria is an independent prognostic factor for pT2 rectal carcinomas that will support decision-making for preoperative, surgical, and postoperative treatment.

Assisting Caregivers with Frail Elderly in Alleviating Financial Hardships

Many caregivers of individuals who are frail and elderly face financial hardships that have negative consequences that compound over time. This article explores the causes of these hardships, reviews Medicaid home and community-based interventions, and related government financial supports that have been used to alleviate them and concludes with recommendations for social work practice and social policy.

‘It’s not just the word care, it’s the meaning of the word…(they) actually care': caregivers’ perceptions of home-based primary care in Toronto, Ontario

The frail and homebound older adult populations currently experience difficulties accessing primary care in the medical office. Given this fundamental access to care problem, and the questionable care quality that arises when navigating a labyrinthine health-care system, these populations have typically been subject to inadequate primary care. To meet their needs better, growing research stresses the importance of providing comprehensive home-based primary care (HBPC), delivered by an inter-professional team of health-care providers. Family care-givers typically provide the majority of care within the home, yet their perceptions of HBPC remain under-researched. The purpose of this study was to explore unpaid care-givers' perceptions of and experiences with HBPC programmes in Toronto, Canada. We conducted qualitative inductive content analysis, using analytic procedures informed by grounded theory, to discover a number of themes regarding unpaid care-givers' understandings of HBPC. Findings suggest that, compared to the standard office-based care model, HBPC may better support unpaid care-givers, providing them assistance with system navigation and offering them the peace of mind that they are not alone, but have someone to call should the need arise. The implications of this research suggest that HBPC could be a model to help mitigate the discontinuities in care that patients with comorbid chronic conditions and their attendant unpaid care-givers experience when accessing fragmented health, home and social care systems.

Epidemiology of the Homebound Population in the United States

IMPORTANCE

Increasing numbers of older, community-dwelling adults have functional impairments that prevent them from leaving their homes. It is uncertain how many people who live in the United States are homebound.

OBJECTIVES

To develop measures of the frequency of leaving and ability to leave the home and to use these measures to estimate the size of the homebound population in the US population.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

Cross-sectional data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study collected in 2011 in the contiguous United States. Participants were a nationally representative sample of 7603 noninstitutionalized Medicare beneficiaries 65 years and older.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

We defined homebound persons as those who never (completely homebound) or rarely (mostly homebound) left the home in the last month. We defined semihomebound persons as those who only left the home with assistance or had difficulty or needed help leaving the home. We compared demographic, clinical, and health care utilization characteristics across different homebound status categories.

RESULTS

In 2011, the prevalence of homebound individuals was 5.6% (95% CI, 5.1%-6.2%), including an estimated 395,422 people who were completely homebound and 1,578,984 people who were mostly homebound. Among semihomebound individuals, the prevalence of those who never left home without personal assistance was 3.3% (95% CI, 2.8%-3.8%), and the prevalence of those who required help or had difficulty was 11.7% (95% CI, 10.9%-12.6%). Completely homebound individuals were more likely to be older (83.2 vs 74.3 years, P < .001), female (67.9% vs 53.4%, P < .006), and of nonwhite race (34.1% vs 17.6%, P < .001) and have less education and income than nonhomebound individuals. They also had more chronic conditions (4.9 vs 2.5) and were more likely to have been hospitalized in the last 12 months (52.1% vs 16.2%) (P < .001 for both). Only 11.9% of completely homebound individuals reported receiving primary care services at home.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In total, 5.6% of the elderly, community-dwelling Medicare population (approximately 2 million people) were completely or mostly homebound in 2011. Our findings can inform improvements in clinical and social services for these individuals.

The team approach to home-based primary care: restructuring care to meet individual, program, and system needs

Team-based models of care are an important way to meet the complex medical and psychosocial needs of the homebound. As part of a quality improvement project to address individual, program, and system needs, a portion of a large, physician-led academic home-based primary care practice was restructured into a team-based model. With support from an office-based nurse practitioner, a dedicated social worker, and a dedicated administrative assistant, physicians were able to care for a larger number of patients. Hospitalizations, readmissions, and patient satisfaction remained the same while physician panel size increased and physician satisfaction improved. The Team Approach is an innovative way to improve interdisciplinary, team-based care through practice restructuring and serves as an example of how other practices can approach the complex task of caring for the homebound.

A Home-Based Intervention's Impact on Caregiver Burden for Veterans With Dependence Performing Activities of Daily Living: An Interdisciplinary Approach

The Veterans Health Administration offers multiple programs to support veteran's caregivers. This study examines one such program, modeled after the national VHA Home Based Primary Care Program (HBPC). A retrospective secondary data analysis was conducted on the VHA GAP program, examining the impact on reducing caregiver burden. Findings from examination of 48 veteran/caregiver dyads indicated the program had a clinically and statistically significant impact on decreasing caregiver role strain. These findings were compared to the national evidence-based HBPC program, finding no significant differences in decrease of caregiver burden between the recipients of the GAP program and the national HBPC programs.

Uncovering the Meaning of Home Care Using an Arts-Based and Qualitative Approach

The need for home care is increasing in Canada, yet little is known about the home care experience of clients and their families. Uncovering the meaning of the home care experience is an important step towards developing understanding and public awareness. We explored the experiences of home care using arts-based methods and individual interviews with 11 participants (one client and 10 family caregivers). Participants discussed the numerous ways formal home care and family caregiving affected their lives, how they coped with these effects, their experiences in hospitals or assisted living facilities, and aspects of the home care experience they liked or disliked. Participants agreed that home care facilitated a better quality of life for families and clients, although they acknowledged some challenges with it. The artistic outputs produced by participants facilitated interview dialogue and fostered understanding of key themes within the research team.

The critical role of social workers in home-based primary care

The growing homebound population has many complex biomedical and psychosocial needs and requires a team-based approach to care (Smith, Ornstein, Soriano, Muller, & Boal, 2006). The Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors Program (MSVD), a large interdisciplinary home-based primary care program in New York City, has a vibrant social work program that is integrated into the routine care of homebound patients. We describe the assessment process used by MSVD social workers, highlight examples of successful social work care, and discuss why social workers' individualized care plans are essential for keeping patients with chronic illness living safely in the community. Despite barriers to widespread implementation, such social work involvement within similar home-based clinical programs is essential in the interdisciplinary care of our most needy patients.

Health care utilization among homebound elders: does caregiver burden play a role?

OBJECTIVE

To describe informal caregiver and patient characteristics associated with high caregiver burden in homebound elders and to examine associations between high caregiver burden and patient health care utilization at the practice level.

METHOD

We used a cross-sectional and prospective cohort design to study 214 caregiver-patient dyads in a home-based primary care program.

RESULTS

Informal caregivers with the highest burden were more likely to help with more activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living and spend >40 hr/week in caregiving. Patients whose caregivers experienced the highest burden were more likely to be non-White males without 24-hr paid homecare. There were no significant independent associations between high burden and high calls, high visits, or social work involvement.

DISCUSSION

In this medically complex and highly dependent population, further study of how families and other caregivers impact health care utilization is needed.

Caregiving for Older Latinos at End of Life

This study examined the various settings in which caregiving occurred for terminally ill older Latinos. Qualitative data were collected in Central Florida through in-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interviews. 20 Latinos caring for terminally ill Latinos participated in the study. N = 9 Latino family (unpaid) caregivers provided care in the terminally ill person's home, while N = 4 provided care to a family member in the caregiver's home. N = 4 paid caregivers provided care to terminally ill Latinos who reside in the caregiver's private home and N = 3 in an assisted-living facility. The themes indicate that family (unpaid) caregivers experienced changes in their financial status; they both encountered English language barriers. Geographical distance made caregiving more challenging. Paid caregivers adapted to cultural expectations and their higher income enabled them to hire assistance.