The Family Caregiving Institute at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis brought together more than 50 thought leaders at the two-day Research Priorities in Caregiving Summit: Advancing Family-Centered Care across the Trajectory of Serious Illness in March 2018 to identify, define and map out research priorities to advance the caregiving field. These research priorities guide the institute’s research agenda. Read the full report. Here’s a sampling of some of the research projects in the Family Caregiving Institute:

Pat Archbold and Barbara Stewart are nationally recognized experts in assessing caregiver skills and preparedness. Archbold is credited with offering the first conceptual model of family caregiving in research in 1980. Along with Stewart, she introduced the concept of preparedness in 1988. Their fundamental work in caregiving – developed while they were faculty at Oregon Health and Science University – now encompasses a massive suite of measurement and survey tools for family caregiving research. The Family Caregiving Institute serves as the repository of those tools. This allows the institute aggregate research across the country and gain new knowledge from others’ rigorous inquiries.

• Developing an innovative program for family caregivers of dementia patients transitioning from hospital to home: Associate Professor Elena Siegel leads an institute team on a $224,000 grant from the Archstone Foundation for a one-year project to improve the health and well-being of family caregivers of persons with dementia at the critical time of caregiving during transition from hospital.

• Novel advanced illness care program: Associate Dean for Research Janice Bell was awarded $600,000 from the Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation Innovations in Care Program for a collaboration with faith-based organizations in Alameda County that address advanced illness care disparities through the Alameda County Care Alliance (ACCA) Advanced Illness Care Program.

• Understanding patient decisions, driving design-thinking decisions: Assistant Professor Katherine Kim leads research in partnership with Amgen, Inc. to better understand the decision-making processes of patients, providers and family caregivers in order to develop solutions that meet the needs of people facing serious illness.