Assessment and Promotion of Caregiver Support of Veterans

This course offers a series of lectures highlighting primarily the presenter's work in the Central Iowa VA Caregiver Support Program as a clinical assessor of the Veteran Functional Assessment Instrument. Additional features include an introduction to caregiving as a public health issue, military caregiving statistics, an explanation of advocacy and program development efforts through discussion of the Campaign for Inclusive Care, and survey results on caregiver interactions among Central Iowa VA rehabilitation staff. Participants enrolled will be able to 1) Identify the key piece of legislation that led to the recent expansion of the VA Caregiver Support Program, 2) Understand the Veteran Functional Assessment Instrument (VFAI) as an important piece of the Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers (PCAFC) and its criteria, 3) Recognize the Campaign for Inclusive Care as national effort to increase the involvement of caregivers within the medical team’s approach to Veteran care, and 4) Appreciate the findings of a questionnaire surveying the therapy staff of the Central Iowa VA Hospital System on their level of caregiver involvement. The course further demonstrates occupational therapy’s key role within the caregiving support space by recognizing the crucial, functional role caregivers play in maintaining and hopefully improving the health of the care recipient.