Housing Our Heroes: Suggestions to Grow the VA Medical Foster Home Program

The VA Medical Foster Home (MFH) program began in 2008 and provides Veterans who have advanced diseases or debilitating illnesses/injuries the choice to receive care in a private home of a VA-approved caregiver rather than a nursing home. As of November 2013, there were 114 MFH programs in the United States. While some have flourished, others have struggled to grow, and some have been discontinued due to low-enrollment. The goal of this research was to conduct a qualitative study to determine challenges and provide suggestions to grow MFH programs nationally. Two researchers conducted phone interviews with 10 MFH coordinators and program support assistants at low-enrollment MFH programs across the country. Interviews were transcribed and qualitative analysis was conducted using an inductive and deductive toolkit, with researchers coding interview transcripts using Atlas.ti qualitative software. The interviewers met with the research team’s qualitative research expert to discuss code definitions and emerging themes. The following themes emerged as challenges to growth of low-enrollment MFH programs: requirements of MFH coordinators to perform duties outside their job descriptions; outreach to medical care providers for appropriate Veteran referrals; recruitment of quality caregivers; and local leadership and medical care provider buy-in. Despite these challenges, those interviewed felt their MFH programs should continue to be supported and all interviewees shared stories of Veterans thriving in the MFH environment. If the challenges above are addressed, those interviewed believed the MFH program would expand. This research is part of a larger study of the national VA MFH program.