Center for Health Equity Research
Virtual Visit Request info Apply
MENUMENU
  • About
    • Our mission
    • CHER team
    • Affiliated faculty
    • Support CHER
  • Initiatives
    • Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative (SHERC)
    • Center for Native American Cancer Health Equity (C-NACHE)
    • Diné College-NAU Collaboration
    • Community Health Workers
    • Health Equity for People With Disabilities
    • Criminal Justice and Public Health Interface
    • Completed Initiatives
  • Projects
    • Current Projects
      • CEAL
      • Evaluating Arizona’s Health Start Program
      • Great Beginnings for Healthy Native Smiles
      • Impacts of the Gold King Mine Spill
      • Special Diabetes Program—Hualapai Tribe
      • Yavapai Communities for Young Children
    • Completed Projects
  • Resources
    • Reports
    • TAG Service Center
    • CHER Anti-Racism Resources
    • Regional Needs and Assets Assessment
    • Local, Regional, and National Resources
  • Training
    • C-CART: Culturally-Centered Addictions Research Training
    • Graduate Certificate in Translational Research Education in Adolescent Drug Abuse
    • Arizona Biomedical Research Center (ABRC) Education Series
  • Publications
  • News
  • Events
    • Upcoming events
    • Past events
  • NAU
  • CHER
  • CHER & SHERC news

SHERC researchers publish article on effects of COVID-19 on rural caregivers of people with ADRD

Posted by ld583 on September 22, 2020

Stock photo by Matthias Zomer of Pexels

How are aging family caregivers coping with the added pressures of caring for their loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) during the current pandemic?

Six researchers from the Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative (SHERC) recently published a commentary in the Public Policy and Aging Report for the Gerontological Society of America on their work discovering the needs of rural caregivers of people with ADRD, especially during COVID-19.

In the article, the researchers found that social distancing, self-isolation and sheltering in place has added both emotional and psychosocial stress on already strained, aging caregivers in rural areas. The main support service for caregivers, the Area Agency on Aging (AAA), as well as other organizations, have limited or eliminated in-person caregiver support.

The caregivers often do not have the technology, skills or privacy to reach the organization and their support groups by computer, creating a “digital divide” that adds stress rather than relieves it.

The researchers are Heather J. Williamson, assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER), Michael J. McCarthy, associate professor in the Department of Social Work, Yolanda E. Garcia, associate professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, Rachel Bacon, research associate, Dorothy J. Dunn, retired associate professor in the School of Nursing, and Regents’ Professor Julie A. Baldwin, director of the Center for Health Equity Research.

To learn more or to read the publication, access the spotlight article Addressing the Needs of Rural Caregivers of Individuals With Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias During and Beyond Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

The research was supported by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities of the National Institutes of Health [U54MD012388].

Filed Under: News

Categories

Tags

Alexandra Samarron Amanda Hunter Amanda Pollitt Amit Kumar Amy Gelatt AZ CEAL C-CART Carly Camplain Carmenlita Chief Carolyn Camplain Center for Health Equity Research CHER CHER/SHERC newsletter Community Health Workers COVID-19 COVID-19 and health equity Diné College Dulce Jimenez Emery Eaves Fairness First campaign Fairness First podcast health equity health promotion Heather Dreifuss Heather Williamson ISEP summer program Julie A. Baldwin Julie Baldwin Kalvina Belin Kristan Elwell Linnea Evans Mark Remiker Melinda Smith NARCH National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities NAU News Nicolette Teufel-Shone Omar Gomez Pilot Project Program research Ricky Camplain Samantha Sabo SHERC Southwest Health Equity Research Collaborative Travis Pinn

Archives

Home
Location
Room 110-140 Building 56
Applied Research and Development
1395 Knoles Drive
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Mailing Address
PO Box 4065
Flagstaff, Arizona 86011
Email
cher@nau.edu
Phone
928-523-9104
Social Media
Visit us on Twitter Facebook Instagram LinkedIn