Heidi Donovan

Summary

Dr. Donovan’s research interests are in the development and testing of  interventions to improve symptoms and quality of life among individuals with cancer and their family caregivers (NINR R01NR010735; NR01370; 90RTGE0002). She has specific expertise in the integration of theory and evidence to design and test e-health interventions to improve self-management for families facing chronic and life threatening illnesses and disabilities. Her work has been grounded in the Representational Approach (RA) to patient education, an intervention theory that she co-developed. The RA has been used to guide a wide range of interventions in cancer symptom management, family caregiving, heart failure, end stage renal disease and palliative care. Currently, she is the corresponding PI and co-Director of the National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Family Support (NCFS; 90RTGE0002; www.caregiving.pitt.edu). NCFS’ mission is to partner with government, academia, and the broad family support stakeholder community to translate state-of-the-art research and training into services and support programs to improve the care, health, and quality of life of all persons with disabilities and the families who support them. Her current research within NCFS is focused on integrating family caregiver assessments and interventions into an established platform to be relevant to caregivers across a wide range of care recipient illnesses and disabilities.