Nine ways to improve the health and well-being of America's military and Veteran caregivers

Abstract: There are 105.6 million caregivers in the United States today, of whom 14.3 million (14 percent) are caring for wounded, ill, or injured service members or veterans. These military and veteran caregivers bear tremendous responsibility: They help those they care for with eating, bathing, memory, mood management, medication administration, and other tasks. If the time they spent caregiving commanded a wage, it would total well over $100 billion. Since RAND's original research on military and veteran caregivers was released in 2014, much has changed. Policies were enacted to better support military and veteran caregivers, new caregiver programs and activities were launched or strengthened, and necessary research and evaluation studies provided insights into this community and the programs designed to support them. Other changes, such as those listed in Figure 1, also may have altered military and veteran caregivers’ experiences. These changes called for a new, national examination of military and veteran caregivers. With support from the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, RAND researchers undertook such an examination. Their analysis suggested nine ways to better support America's military and veteran caregivers—our hidden heroes—in emerging from the shadows.

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