Abstract
Transitioning from the role of caregiver to survivor following the death of the care recipient can be difficult. Our goal was to describe well-being and bereavement-related service use among family caregivers of Veterans who had recently died. During June-November, 2023, we sent surveys to caregivers of 1,468 Veterans who had participated in a previous survey and whose Veterans had died 3-18 months prior to this survey; 296 (20.1%) caregiver-survivors completed the survey. We assessed caregiver-survivors’ anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-2) and depressive (Patient Health Questionnaire-2) symptoms along with physical and mental health-related quality of life (HRQOL; PROMIS 10 mental and physical health) at the time of the survey. We assessed their use of specific support services since the Veteran’s death. 14% of caregiver-survivors screened positive for anxiety and 15% for depressive symptoms. Most had poorer physical HRQOL (67% had t-scores>50) and mental HRQOL (85%) than the general population. Service use was uncommon: 10% of caregiver-survivors had used a bereavement support group, 7% had used counseling/therapy, and 2% each had used a caregiver support group or VA bereavement services. 20% of caregiver-survivors said they were not aware of bereavement/counseling services but would have liked to use them. In this sample of caregiver-survivors, anxiety and depressive symptom prevalence was similar to the general population but physical and mental HRQOL were substantially poorer. Most caregiver-survivors did not use any formal services following the Veteran’s death. While most non-users were not interested in services, some reported they would have used them if offered.