Families and caregivers are critical influences on the development and health of the people they engage with and support across the life course. Effectively supporting families and caregivers is critical to promoting participation of the people they support. Research is needed to better understand effective methods of supporting family and caregiver capacity, resiliency, and well-being. Evolving frameworks for understanding, supporting, and empowering families and caregivers should recognize the reciprocal nature inherent in many caregiving relationships.  

• Over 21% of U.S. adults (over 53 million) have served as a caregiver for an adult or child with a disability or chronic health condition.  Most care recipients are adults.¹ 

• Caregivers promote participation in home and community settings.¹ 

• The number of caregivers caring for more than one person are increasing and 45% of caregivers report a financial impact.1 

• Approximately 8 out of 10 caregivers report they could use more information or help on special topics, including stress management, safety in the home, toileting, and handling problem behaviors. ¹ 

• Additional research on caregiving is needed to define its breadth and scope, estimate the economic impact, identify high risk factors, and develop effective interventions. ² 

Need and Relevance to Occupational Therapy 

Family and caregiver supports, resiliency, and well-being have been identified as 

• a critical area to promote health and well-being for families and individuals across conditions and populations 

• an area in which evidence-based measures and interventions are needed 

• an area where application of the unique expertise of occupational therapy would be highly beneficial 

Caregiving entails supporting the participation, health, and well-being of another person. Caregivers must also attend to their own needs for participation and maintain their physical and emotional health.   

Occupational therapy knowledge regarding factors that influence engagement in daily activities, particularly environmental and task factors, may support development of effective caregiver interventions to meet the needs of the people they support. 

Current knowledge, research training, measures and interventions are inadequate for addressing the needs of care recipients and caregivers. AOTF is committed to the development of a scientific network and body of evidence to achieve effective and efficient advances to address family and caregiver needs across the lifespan. 

The number of occupational therapy scientists who are building knowledge related to family and caregiver needs is growing.  However, there is not a coordinated network for occupational therapy research in this area, nor sufficient resources to train more occupational therapy researchers.  We believe a significant investment is needed to address family and caregiver needs across the lifespan in order to achieve better outcomes and improve quality of life. 

1. National Alliance for Caregiving. (2020). Caregiving in the U.S. 2020  Retrieved from https://www.caregiving.org/caregiving-in-the-us-2020/ 

2. National Institute on Aging. (2012). Next steps for research on informal caregiving. Retrieved from  https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/dbsr/bsr-sponsored-publications 

David Robertson joined the Foundation in July 2017 and in May 2019 he was promoted to Member and Program Coordinator as the national coordinator for the St. Catherine Challenge and Pi Theta Epsilon.

He joins the Foundation having previously worked in the educational sector as a program coordinator with Learn It Systems. Before that, he worked for several years as the Assistant Director, of Family Relations and Special Events at the Washington International School in D.C. 

David has a BS and Master's of Education from Springfield College where he was the grad assistant to the Sports Information Director before working in the sports industry.  David lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife, son, and Labrador, Luna. 

Lawrence Liff joined the AOTF in October 2017 as Chief Development Officer. In this role, Lawrence promotes the philanthropic priorities of the Foundation, engages people, companies, and organizations that wish to support the AOTF mission, stewards donors, and manages the AOTF Development Council. 

Before coming to AOTF, Lawrence worked at the University of Maryland, College Park. From 2012 to 2017 he was the Director of Development at the College of Information Studies and from 2004 to 2012 he was the Associate Director of Development for the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. 

Lawrence earned his BA in American History and Political Science in 2001 from the University of Maryland and earned his Master of Public Policy in 2010. 

Dr. Scott Campbell began his tenure as Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation in May 2015.  Prior to joining the Foundation, Dr. Campbell served as a Scientific Advisory Board member for Temptime Corporation and served as Executive Director and CEO of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.  He was responsible for overall leadership of the FNIH and was involved with many of the collaborative research projects funded through the FNIH including the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), the Biomarkers Consortium, the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership (OMOP), Grand Challenges in Global Health, the US-Russia Scientific Forum and the mHealth Summit.  He also represented the Foundation on the Health Research Alliance and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Drug Discovery, Development, and Translation.  

From 2001-2010, Dr. Campbell served as National Vice President of Research Programs at the American Diabetes Association.  In addition to overseeing all research-related programs at the ADA, he also was responsible for helping acquire major donations to the ADA Research Foundation.  He was a trustee on the Board of Trustees, Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC); member of the IOM Clinical Research Roundtable; and served on the Board of Directors of the Health Research Alliance.  He also represented the ADA on several federally related committees, including the Diabetes Mellitus Interagency Coordinating Committee (DMICC) at the National Institutes of Health.  Before beginning his non-profit scientific administration career, Dr. Campbell spent 16 years in academia with academic appointments at the University of South Dakota, University of Missouri, and Michael Reese Hospital.

Dr. Campbell received his PhD in Basic Biomedical Sciences from the University of South Florida.  He is the author of 40 peer-reviewed articles, 9 invited reviews, and 14 book chapters related to cardiovascular disease.

Jeanne Cooper serves as the Chief Operating Officer of the Foundation and is responsible for overall Foundation operations. 

Jeanne joined the Foundation in July 2008 as executive assistant to the Executive Director and became manager, executive office in May 2016.

Prior to joining AOTF, Jeanne was the director of chapter relations at a trade association and has worked with other associations and foundations in professional advancement, chapter relations, membership, and certification.

Jeanne majored in psychology at the George Washington University.