RAND researchers present findings from the qualitative arm of the America's Military and Veteran Caregivers: Hidden Heroes Emerging from the Shadows research project, sharing insights from interviews with U.S. military and veteran caregivers.

Perspectives of America's Military and Veteran Caregivers

A Qualitative Exploration

Priya Gandhi, Kayla M. Williams, Rajeev Ramchand

ResearchPublished Sep 24, 2024

RAND researchers present findings from the qualitative arm of the America's Military and Veteran Caregivers: Hidden Heroes Emerging from the Shadows research project, sharing insights from interviews with U.S. military and veteran caregivers. Thirty-eight qualitative interviews were conducted between December 2023 and February 2024. In the interviewed caregivers' own words, they provided rich descriptions of their experiences, complementing the main report's survey findings with illustrative anecdotes that deepen our understanding of the challenges and joys of caregiving and elucidate opportunities to improve supportive services.

Caregivers highlighted aiding care recipients with a broad array of activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living, often leveraging a variety of informal and formal supports. They often faced challenges, such as balancing caregiving with other priorities and commitments; managing care recipients' health-related conditions and needs; financial, emotional, and physical struggles; and difficulty accessing respite and navigating health care systems. Caregivers reflected on their identities, highlighting ways in which they are similar to and different from other caregivers; they generally said that they found caregiving to be rewarding. They also discussed the economic impacts of caregiving and pointed to opportunities for organizations to improve outreach and provision of services.

Key Findings

  • Many caregivers assisted care recipients with activities of daily living, and almost all assisted with instrumental activities of daily living.
  • Many caregivers reported being able to access at least some of the diverse health care and social services available to support themselves and their care recipients.
  • Some caregivers mentioned continued unmet needs, often driven by eligibility issues, and other obstacles, particularly related to a lack of information regarding services, service accessibility (especially in rural areas), and perceived quality of care.
  • Caregivers also noted myriad informal and formal supports they lean on at the individual, interpersonal, institutional, and community levels, most commonly citing support received from family and friends.
  • Caregivers discussed their identities, feeling both similar to and different from other caregivers; similarities were based on shared experiences, and differences were often based on achieved characteristics (such as education and employment) rather than ascribed characteristics (such as race and ethnicity or gender identity).
  • Interviewees were mixed in feeling represented by media portrayals of caregivers; some shared that they did not often come across stories that embodied their experiences.
  • Caregivers also discussed interactions with health care professionals, often citing strategies they employed to ensure that they were respected and understood. Some reported experiencing negative interactions.
  • Caregivers discussed economic impacts they faced, demonstrating a great deal of variability in terms of employment statuses and in whether they were planning for the future or had access to the resources necessary to fulfill future caregiving responsibilities.

Recommendations

  • Promote work environments that are supportive of caregivers.
  • Increase opportunities for caregivers to access available financial support, and offer additional financial compensation to caregivers for the work they perform.
  • Encourage health care systems to better integrate caregivers into health care teams.
  • Focus programmatic and social support within the context of local conditions in which military/veteran caregivers live.
  • Tailor caregiver support programs to reflect caregivers' diverse preferences and needs.

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Document Details

  • Copyright: RAND Corporation
  • Availability: Available
  • Year: 2024
  • Print Format: Paperback
  • Paperback Pages: 86
  • Paperback Price: $22.00
  • Paperback ISBN/EAN: 1-9774-1412-5
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.7249/RRA3212-3
  • Document Number: RR-A3212-3

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Gandhi, Priya, Kayla M. Williams, and Rajeev Ramchand, Perspectives of America's Military and Veteran Caregivers: A Qualitative Exploration, RAND Corporation, RR-A3212-3, 2024. As of October 15, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3212-3.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Gandhi, Priya, Kayla M. Williams, and Rajeev Ramchand, Perspectives of America's Military and Veteran Caregivers: A Qualitative Exploration. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2024. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3212-3.html. Also available in print form.
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The research described in this report was funded by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and conducted by the Social and Behavioral Policy Program within RAND Social and Economic Well-Being and the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute within RAND Education and Labor.

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