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It’s conference season, and many of the UCSF HWRC team were at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting and the American Society of Health Economists conference in early June. This weekend, we’ll be at the International Refugee and Migration Health Conference in San Diego, and next week, the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics in Amsterdam, sharing several HWRC studies. Laura Wagner is attending the Alzheimer's Association International Conference the week after, in London. Scroll down for more information about these presentations and our other activities!
Joanne Spetz, PhD, FAAN
Director
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HWRC Research with the National Health and Aging Trends Study
The National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) includes longitudinal surveys of Medicare beneficiaries ages 65 and older and of their caregivers. The UCSF HWRC has conducted two studies using these data to understand the intersection between unpaid care provided by family and friends and paid care provided by personal care assistants. The first study, published in 2025, focused on the geographic proximity of family caregivers for unmarried older adults, finding that receiving paid care was equally likely for older adults with versus without nearby family.
The new study, published last week, focused on changes in caregiving for unmarried older adults that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Lei Chen, a post-doctoral scholar at UCSF, led the research. The study found that unmarried older adults generally received more support from family and friends during the pandemic. However, those who lived in counties that had more “shelter-in-place” days were significantly less likely to report they received more help during COVID-19. This finding demonstrates the importance of addressing caregiving needs during public health emergencies to ensure that older adults receive the support they need.
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UCSF Welcomes New Post-Doctoral Scholar Cait Brown
Cait Brown, PhD, CCC-SLP, will be joining UCSF's National Dementia Workforce Study in August. Dr. Brown earned her PhD in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Washington, where her dissertation examined speech-language pathology services for skilled nursing facility residents living with dementia. A southeast Louisiana native, she has worked as a nursing home director of rehabilitation and as a clinical speech-language pathologist across a range of settings, including skilled nursing, telehealth, home health, inpatient rehabilitation, and outpatient care. Her recent work has focused on the rehabilitation workforce and policy across post-acute and long-term care. Her research interests are in evaluating long-term care as an interconnected system, examining how rehabilitation, nursing, allied health, and leadership interact within it to deliver care, and what sustains an effective workforce.
| | | | Summer Conference Presentations | | | |
It is a busy summer! HWRC affiliates presented at AcademyHealth and the American Society of Health Economists in June, and will also be at the International Refugee and Migration Health Conference (June 26–28), followed by the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics and the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in July.
International Refugee and Migration Health Conference, June 26-28, San Diego
- Poster: The Dementia and Migration Study: Experiences of migration, dementia, and caregiving in California, by Alissa Sideman, Na'amah Razon, Claudia Guerra, Alma Hernandez de Jesus, Ignacia Arteaga, Ariana Khayamian, Sabrina Smadi, Carine Tamamian, Bethney Bonilla-Herrera, Rebeca Espinosa, Corey Abramson, Tala Al Rousan
International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics, July 5-8, Amsterdam
Monday July 6th
- 07:30-08:45:
- Services, regulations, and staffing in U.S. residential care facilities, by Joanne Spetz, room E102
- 15:30-17:00 – Poster Session 1
- How Financial Challenges Affect the Health and Lived Experiences of Adults With Long-Term Services and Supports Needs, by Lei Chen, Qianyun Wang, Kathryn Kietzman
- Evaluation of the CalGrows Innovation Fund Direct Care Training and Stipends Program, by Joanne Spetz
Tuesday July 7th
- 15:30-17:00 – Poster Session 2
- Preliminary findings from the National Dementia Workforce Study in the U.S.: Characteristics of the Dementia Care Workforce in Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Communities, by Lei Chen & Joanne Spetz
- The influence of payer reimbursement structure on dementia care pathways, by Joanne Spetz
Alzheimer’s Association International Conference, July 12-15, London
- July 12, Poster session: Current Requirements for Dementia Care Training, by Laura Wagner
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Chen, L., & Spetz, J. (2026). "Shelter-in-place" policies and changes in caregiving for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 23(7), 825. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/23/7/825
Chu, L., & Spetz, J. (2026, April 28). California Board of Registered Nursing 2024 survey of registered nurses. California Board of Registered Nursing.
https://rn.ca.gov/pdfs/forms/survey2024.pdf
Muench, U., Rose, C. D., & Spetz, J. (2026, June 9). The hidden costs of becoming a nurse: How student debt deepens inequities in the nursing workforce pipeline. Health Affairs Scholar. https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag067
Spetz, J. (2026, May). Regional forecasts of the registered nurse workforce in California. California Board of Registered Nursing. https://rn.ca.gov/pdfs/forms/forecast2026.pdf
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The UCSF Health Workforce Research Center on Long-Term Care (UCSF HWRC) is a dynamic hub of policy-oriented research and investigation, established through support from the National Center for Health Workforce Analysis in the U.S. Bureau of Health Workforce. UCSF HWRC closely examines the health care workforce and helps shape policies to meet expanding LTC needs. Our research includes the workforce in nursing homes, home health care, adult day care, community-based settings, and home settings, and includes all LTC occupations.
Director: Joanne Spetz, PhD, FAAN
Deputy Director: Laura Wagner, PhD, RN, FAAN
Visit: https://healthworkforce.ucsf.edu/about
Follow on Twitter: @ucsfhwrc or Bluesky: @ucsfhwrc.bsky.social
This newsletter highlights new HWRC publications, as well as workforce-related research conducted by our team at the Institute for Health Policy Studies and Healthforce Center at UCSF, UCSF School of Nursing and other research partners.
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