Building Better Caregivers

Abstract

An aging population and wartime injuries has led to a growing population needing caregivers. This article evaluates a pilot study of an Internet-based, skills-enhancement workshop developed for the United States Department of Veteran Affairs. Sixty caregivers are enrolled. Either the caregivers or people being cared for are Veterans living in California, Southern Nevada, or Hawaii. Measures include health indicators, health behaviors, and health care utilization. Baseline measures are compared to the same measures at 3 months using paired t tests. Participation in the program is examined, including number of sessions and number of posts. Caregivers show significant reductions in caregiver burden, depression, pain, and stress. Caregiver self-efficacy and two exercise measures show improvement. The care partners’ overall health show improvement (p<.05). The program successfully reaches rural residents, and participation is high. The Building Better Caregivers program is acceptable to caregivers, whose health, emotional health, and health behaviors show improvement. Caregivers successfully participate in the program.