Richard Schulz

..The goals of this study were to identify caregiver, patient, and contextual factors associated with caregiver rating bias...

..Using data from a national sample of informal caregivers to older adults, we identify predictors of lack of choice and the consequences of lack of choice in taking on the caregiving role...

..We investigated if personal socioeconomic position (SEP) factors and neighborhood characteristics were associated with incident mobility impairment in the elderly...

..Most deaths in the United States occur among older persons who have 1 or more disabling conditions. As a result, many deaths are preceded by an extended period during which family members provide care to their disabled relative...

..Placing a relative with dementia into a long-term care facility is common among caregivers. Placement transition and factors that affect caregiver health and well-being after placement of the patient are not well described...

..To assess the effects of suffering in a spouse on prevalent and incident psychiatric (depression) and physical morbidity (cardiovascular disease [CVD]) in their partner, controlling for known risk factors for depression and CVD...

..Medical treatment of patients that maintain or improve memory but do not address suffering may have little impact on the caregiver. Alzheimer disease patient suffering should be systematically assessed and treated by clinicians...

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..We conclude with a discussion of implications and future directions for clinical intervention, research, and policy...

..This is the first study to prospectively assess predictors of complicated grief among family caregivers of patients with dementia who experience the death of their care recipient...

..To assess the efficacy of two psychosocial interventions for caregivers of older persons with spinal cord injury (SCI)...

..To identify key features of interventions that need to be considered in the design, execution, and reporting of interventions...

..The authors describe the design of the study, summarize the interventions implemented at each site, and provide an overview of the 4 articles in this special section...

..assess psychometric properties of scales developed to assess experience and perception of physical, psychological, and existential suffering in older individuals...

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..Our goal was to focus on issues of clinical significance in caregiver intervention research in order to move the field toward a greater emphasis on achieving reliable and clinically meaningful outcomes...

..CONCLUSIONS: A structured multicomponent intervention adapted to individual risk profiles can increase the quality of life of ethnically diverse dementia caregivers. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00177489...

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..It will be important for future research to administer the MDBI to caregivers of middle-aged and older patients as well as those receiving treatment through inpatient settings or community outpatient clinics...

..The results indicate that actively targeting caregiver behavior is effective in achieving positive outcomes with respect to caregiver depression...

..To describe and identify factors associated with mortality rate and quality of life 1 yr after prolonged mechanical ventilation...

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..Future research that uses such observational methods may be highly useful for understanding the effects of chronic illness on older couples...

..Competing theories of adaptation and wear-and-tear describe psychological distress patterns among family caregivers...

..Age, gender, and model of self were related to caregiving responses, suggesting that model of self may help identify caregivers at risk for poor responses...

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..These findings suggest that heightened physiological stress caused by exposure to a loved one's suffering may be one pathway to caregivers' increased risk for cardiovascular disease...

..To identify factors that condition or moderate the impact of a previously described set of interventions on psychological and physical adjustment after diagnosis and treatment for early-stage breast cancer...

..In existing studies, it is unclear whether the observed burden is a consequence of critical illness or of preexisting patient illness...

..Authors review practice guidelines and recommendations for healthcare providers in light of the empirical literature on family caregiving...

..Given these findings, family caregivers of individuals with mild cognitive deficits or a new AD diagnosis may benefit from interventions specifically addressing anticipatory grief...

..Conversely, disengagement strategies involve the withdrawal of these resources from obsolete or unattainable health goals, combined with goal restructuring...

..Future research may identify family attitudes and behaviors that stem from burden and compromise older adults' ability to recover from depression...

..The aging of the population is one of the causes of the increase in healthcare costs in the past few decades. It is controversial whether chronological age alone should be used in making healthcare decisions...

..Caregivers reported high levels of depressive symptoms and moderate burden. Care recipients were older, with a mean age of 79, and were moderately to severely impaired with mean Mini-Mental State Exam scores of 13/30...

..The authors assessed the association between public and private religious participation and depression as well as hopelessness in older depressed, adults treated in mental health settings...

..Nurses in contact with middle-aged and older family caregivers are well positioned to encourage health promotion and disease prevention behaviors in this accessible population...

..To examine the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of written advance planning among patients with or at risk for dementia-imposed decisional incapacity...

..To examine the relationship between persistently high depressive symptoms and long-term changes in functional disability in elderly persons...

..To describe the burden experienced by family caregivers of older adults with depression and to examine the positive effects on caregivers of treating late-life depression...

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..To examine the unique contribution of social support to burden in caregivers of adults aging with spinal cord injury (SCI)...

..To identify changes in positive aspects of care (PAC) from the time of diagnosis to four months following the diagnosis in family caregivers of care recipients with primary malignant brain tumors...

..Our objective, then, is to explore the relationship between religion and mental health in active and bereaved dementia caregivers...

..Although statistically significant aggregate effects were found, they were generally small in magnitude. These findings provide guidance in developing future interventions in this area...

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..Relationship satisfaction moderated these effects. These results suggest that partners' personality traits are important determinants of both patients' and their caregiving spouses' well-being...

..These findings argue for a comprehensive assessment of the care-receiving experience that includes both care-recipient and caregiver perspectives...

..This study aimed to investigate the impact of cancer from family caregivers' perspective, based on a comparative analysis of caregiving burden and distress, among four types of caregivers...

..Informal caregivers often facilitate patients' use of medications, but the effect of caregiver factors on PIM use has not been a focus of previous research...

..There were also gender differences, such that caregiving wives, in particular, benefited from their husband's willingness to express vulnerable (e.g., anxiety, sadness) and interpersonal emotions...

..To determine what questions family caregivers want to discuss with health care providers (HCPs) in order to prepare for the death of a loved one...

..This study examined concurrent and long-term associations between caregiver-related characteristics and the use of community long-term care services in a sample of 186 older adults caring for a disabled spouse...

..However, few studies have expanded the collaborative care model to other settings and targeted comorbid physical symptoms of depression...

..Yet, little is known about the subjective experience of living with a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. This study examines, from the patient's perspective, the experience of living with and making sense of the diagnosis...

..This article explores such risk factors...

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..The objective of this study was to understand the nature of each individual's verbal participation in these triadic interactions...

..Discussion centers on the use of the Life Engagement Test in behavioral medicine and health psychology research and recent associations that have begun to emerge between the scale and health-relevant outcomes...

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..The authors examined the frequency and appropriateness of use, the importance of a family caregiver in medication decisions for dementia patients, and differences in access to medical care...

..We will then discuss a conceptual framework for intervention design. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of implications and future directions for intervention research...

..We assess the effects of racial or ethnic concordance between caregivers and interventionists on caregiver attrition, change in depression, and change in burden in a multisite randomized clinical trial...

..This study assessed the impact of depressive symptoms and distress from patient problem behaviors on time to developing a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a sample of 643 dementia family caregivers...

..Although it has been suggested that family and friends who are prepared for the death of a loved one have less distress, the relationship between preparedness and bereavement mental health is inconclusive...

..Although religions is important to many people with cancer, few studies have explored the relationship between religious coping and well-being in a prospective manner, using validated measures, while controlling for important covariates...

..However, the field is still in need of better outcome and process measures, methods for measuring the therapeutic content of non-psychotherapy encounters, and methods for determining the impact of choice of treatment on outcome...

..Both positive impressions from and concerns of each group are presented. Findings helped guide plans for future telehealth kiosk implementation and training...

..To conduct a clinical trial to determine if an educational intervention and a nutritional intervention could enhance physical and psychological functioning among younger women completing treatment for early-stage breast cancer...

..The purpose of this article is to describe how a mind-body (biobehavioral) model can be adapted to study family caregivers of persons with a brain tumor...

..This suggests the potential for improved symptom management, which could contribute to a less stressful intensive care unit stay and improved patient outcomes...

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..Adverse-and even positive-outcomes in a chronic stress experience...

..We sought to find racial differences in the effects of trust in the health care system on preventive health service use among older adults...

..To evaluate the morbidity from chronic pelvic pain after pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)...

..To determine the concordance of 4 methods of disability assessment with the criterion method. Performance testing in the home was selected as the criterion...

..The authors assessed the course and comorbidity of late-life GAD and MDD...

..An additional objective was to determine if the intervention could be implemented by a community-based social service agency...

..In addition, the results showed that goal disengagement and goal reengagement can have interactive effects on subjective well-being. The importance of the findings for effective self-regulation and successful development are discussed...

..This effect was particularly strong for the relation between benefit and grief. Results demonstrate the importance of studying both positive and negative aspects of caregiving and their relation to bereavement outcomes...

..To examine whether control-oriented strategies buffer effects of functional difficulties on depressive symptoms over time in older African-American and white adults with disability...

..But, accounting for a broad interpretation of socioeconomic status (SES) (i.e., education, family income, home ownership, and other assets) would reduce these differences...

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..034). Also, active interventions were superior to control conditions for Hispanics, nonspouses, and caregivers with lower education. Results suggest interventions should be multicomponent and tailored...

..Among college graduates, controls were comparable with the GE and GED groups in physical functioning and positive health behaviors...

..It was expected that adaptive levels of HECS would buffer the adverse effects of physical health problems on depressive mood and diurnal cortisol secretion...

..Most of the existing literature and guidelines for safety monitoring and reporting of adverse events focuses on medical interventions. Consequently, there is little guidance for investigators conducting social and behavior trials...

..These findings suggest that active control strategies play an important role in the maintenance of older adults' physical health...

..These results clearly illustrate that the analysis strategy researchers choose may have important bearing on theory in aging research such as conclusions regarding the role of social support across the life span...

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..We theorized family functioning to partially mediate the relationship between objective burden and distress and to significantly account for the prediction of distress beyond well-recognized predictors...

..This study describes transitions over 5 years among community-dwelling elderly spouses into and within caregiving roles and associated health outcomes...

..To determine the prevalence and correlates of anxiety symptoms in the absence of depression, in older black and white people...

..Individuals who are characterized by low levels of HECS and high levels of depressive symptoms may be at increased risk of accelerated decline in their physical and mental health...

..The analytic plan will enable us to assess causal links between treatment components and specific outcomes as well as explore cultural and racial variations in treatment effectiveness. ..

..The intervention is expected to impact both short-term and long-term caregiver emotional distress and burden as well as bereavement-related distress. ..

..The intervention is expected to impact both short-term and long-term caregiver emotional distress and burden as well as bereavement-related distress. ..

..Findings will have direct implications for strengthening the effectiveness of dyadic psychosocial interventions for OA. ..

..The intervention is expected to impact both short-term and long-term caregiver emotional distress and burden as well as bereavement-related distress. ..

..A uniform battery of predictor and outcome measures will be collected at baseline, three and six months. Cost effectiveness and clinical significance of the two conditions will also be evaluated. ..

..The applicant, Dr. Richard Schulz, and the supporting institution, the University of Pittsburgh, have not been prior recipients of an NIA ..

..Given the projected increase in the number of caregivers in the next three decades, it is essential that we obtain reliable and valid information on the health effects of taking on the caregiving role...

..Mortality rates among care-recipients are high enough in this study to enable us to examine the effects of bereavement in a relatively large sample of elderly spousal pairs. ..

..Findings will have direct implications for strengthening the effectiveness of dyadic psychosocial interventions for OA. ..