Kalisha Bonds Johnson

Emory University | EU · Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

Background and Objectives There are a growing number of early-phase (i.e., Stage I, NIH Stage Model) interventions targeted at family care dyads navigating chronic health conditions in older adults. Currently, benefits of these interventions are often evaluated for older adults and their family care partners separately, even when controlling for in...

Many older persons living with dementia (PLWD) also live with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs). Care partners of PLWD will increasingly need to make care decisions for PLWD, but the health care priorities of PLWD with MCCs may vary. The Patient Priorities Care Health Priorities Identification Process is an evidenced-based tool to support older ad...

With increasing evidence of the interpersonal context of health and illness, there is growing interest in interventions that target the needs of the family care dyad. Yet, there are often specific challenges to the design, delivery and evaluation of dyadic interventions that are not often disseminated. This session includes four papers that will di...

Introduction Sleep disturbance is prevalent in caregivers of persons living with dementia (PLwD). Tele-Savvy, a 7-week virtual psychoeducational intervention, enhances caregivers’ competence and self-care, and reduces depression. While not explicitly designed to do so, Tele-Savvy can potentially improve caregivers’ disturbed sleep. The present stud...

Background An intersectional approach to health research provides an analytical foundation to explain the multidimensionality of health status, resource accessibility, privilege, oppression, and current and historical context. The use of intersectionality in health research has known limitations. Its use in health-related fields too often focuses o...

Background African American older adults are suggested to be two times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) compared to non‐Latinx White older adults. As a result, there is a need for more African American caregivers. The largest group of caregivers of African American persons living with ADRD, African American ad...

Sleep disturbance is prevalent among caregivers of people living with dementia. However, gaps exist about caregivers' sleep patterns before and during their caregiving trajectory. This exploratory secondary analysis using a qualitative descriptive approach aimed to (1) identify and describe current caregivers' patterns of change in sleep before and...

Background and objectives: Tele-Savvy is a synchronous/asynchronous psychoeducation program for caregivers of community-dwelling persons living with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) designed to increase caregivers' competence and confidence (mastery) in caregiving. Its overall efficacy was tested in a randomized controlled trial....

Background: Black Americans face significant discrimination associated with mental health disorder, which may be exacerbated among sexually victimized people. Social support may buffer that relationship. Methods: Cross-sectional data from a retrospective cohort study were analyzed to examine if discrimination and sexual victimization overlap to...

Limited research explores the contextual and cultural nuances within African American dementia dyads within the United States and how these factors influence decision-making processes. Through a secondary data analysis of semi-structured interviews, we examined decision-making processes in five African American dementia dyads related to how they na...

Little is known about the conditions that foster greater positive affect in the daily lives of spousal dementia care dyads in the early stages of dementia. This study aimed to examine the extent to which multiple indicators of health, including activities of daily living needs, quality of life, and the person with dementia’s behavioral symptoms wer...

Are you an ESPO member or early careerist who is interested in creating meaningful and engaging partnerships with different stakeholders? Want to learn how to leverage partnerships across diverse research settings and make impactful change? Or are you unsure of all the “hype” surrounding engaging communities and key stakeholders? If you answered “y...

The NIA’s Butler-Williams Scholars Program and GSA’s ESPO Section are united in providing career development opportunities in a manner that promotes leadership, diversity, and inclusivity. This year’s theme challenges our emerging scholars to embrace diversity and discovery while thinking—or rethinking—about the perspectives of older adults. Dispar...

Background Black transgender women endure pervasive polyvictimization (experiencing multiple forms of violence throughout the lifespan). Polyvictimization is associated with poor mental health. Black transgender women also face barriers in access to healthcare, but the extent that such barriers modify the association between polyvictimization and p...

COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among healthcare workers (HCW) undermines community vaccine confidence. Predictors and reasons for HCW hesitancy in the Atlanta region were evaluated using a survey between May and June 2021. Vaccine hesitancy was highest in younger and less educated HCW. Interventions to address vaccine hesitancy in HCW are necessary.

Context To effectively manage cancer pain, there is a need to understand how caregiving dyads appraise symptoms. Dyadic appraisal of symptoms influences whether the dyad perceives the patient's pain is managed well and whether they are on the same page with their appraisal. Beliefs can act as barriers to the dyadic appraisal. Objectives This secon...

PurposeThis cross-sectional study evaluated congruence in pain assessment among Black cancer patients taking opioids for pain and their family caregivers and the effects of patient-reported depressive symptoms and cognitive complaints on the congruence.Methods Patient-reported pain scores (current, average, and worst pain severity and pain interfer...

Caregiving for a person living with dementia (PLwD) may influence sleep patterns. Gaps exists about whether caregiver and PLwD factors impact sleep differentially based on caregivers’ gender. The aim of this secondary data analysis was to identify predictors of sleep quality and insomnia in a sample of caregivers, stratified by gender, participatin...

Sleep disturbance is prevalent among caregivers of people living with dementia. Gaps exist regarding when caregivers begin to experience sleep disturbance along their caregiving trajectory. This study aimed to identify and describe phenotypes of current caregivers’ sleep patterns before and during caregiving and describe caregivers’ perception of t...

Are you an ESPO member curious about what the “new normal” means for your future career in the field of aging? Or are you a GSA member interested in hearing from your colleagues about their experiences over the past year? Welcome to the ESPO Presidential Symposium! During this session, speakers will share honest and candid insights about their care...

About 5.8 million older American adults live with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias; Black American older adults’ prevalence is more than twice that of non-Hispanic white older adults. The Black American dementia caregiving experience can be pictured within the Black Family Social-Ecological Context Model, which provides a conceptual basis...

Over six million older Americans live with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias; Black American older adults' prevalence is more than twice that of non-Hispanic White older adults. The Black American dementia caregiving experience can be encapsulated within the Black Family Socio-Ecological Context Model, which provides a conceptual basis for...

There is limited research exploring how daily and formal care decision making occurs within African American dementia dyads as well as how these dyads navigate decision making across the dementia trajectory. Through semi-structured interviews, five African American dementia dyads shared their decision-making processes. We used a multimethod approac...

Background Tele‐Savvy is an NIA‐funded 3‐arm randomized controlled longitudinal trial of a fully online psychoeducation program. Tele‐Savvy is specifically designed to promote caregiver mastery by enhancing caregivers’ abilities to manage daily challenges to reduce caregiver distress. Method This presentation reports on the baseline characteristic...

Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) have a significant impact on families. Family nurses are in an ideal position to address the needs of families affected by ADRD. However, to be most effective, family nurses and researchers need culturally appropriate theories to guide practice and research. On November 17, 2018, five nurse research...

Background and objectives: Greater everyday decision-making involvement by persons living with dementia (PLWD) and congruent appraisal between PLWDs and their caregivers have been associated with better quality of life (QOL) for both members of the dyad. However, no study has examined the association between the appraisals of everyday decision-mak...

Objective: Both caregivers and the older adults they care for can experience declines in quality of life (QOL) over the course of the dementia trajectory. Little research has examined QOL in African-American caregivers and even less in African-American persons with dementia (PWDs), making it difficult to identify associated factors. Method: Guided...

Decision-making involvement (e.g., verbal and/or nonverbal communication) of persons with dementia (PWD) has been associated with quality of life of PWDs and their caregivers, underscores personhood, and reduces ethical dilemmas for caregivers regarding the PWD’s care. Yet, no study has explored the decision-making involvement in formal and daily c...

Background: Given a marked increase in the number of grandparents who play a caregiving role for their grandchildren, there is a parallel urgency for more research involving grandparent-grandchild dyads. Objective: To describe methodological challenges we encountered when conducting grandparent-grandchild dyadic research, some of which were chal...

Both caregivers and older adults can experience declines in quality of life (QOL) over the course of the illness. Yet, little research has examined QOL in African American (AA) caregivers and even less in AA persons with dementia (PWDs), making it difficult to identify modifiable risks and protective factors. As caregiving is inherently a dyadic pr...

Dementia is a predominant problem in older adults, affecting African American individuals at higher rates than other ethnic groups; yet, African American older adults use fewer formal services. To identify factors influencing formal service use by African American individuals with dementia and their caregivers, an integrative review of the literatu...

Decision-making involvement of persons with dementia (PWD) has been associated with the PWD’s quality of life, underlines personhood and can reduce ethical dilemmas for family caregivers (CG) and clinicians (Menne, Judge, & Whitlatch, 2009; Miller, Whitlatch, & Lyons, 2016). Previous research has found the CG’s perception of the PWD’s care values a...