DSW Showcase Student Presentation

Donna Hornsby

LMSW, DSW Candidate

Who Cares for the Caregiver? Redesigning Caregiver Journey Mapping to Identify Key Points for Service Delivery to Meet the Needs of CAR-T cell Therapy Caregivers

Concentration -

Abstract

This capstone presentation explores caregivers of adult cancer patients who receive Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR-T) compared to caregivers of cancer patients undergoing traditional treatments, i.e., chemotherapy and radiation, were found to experience a significantly higher stress burden. Caregivers of CAR-T patients were also found to have a higher stress burden than caregivers of both Alzheimer’s and heart disease patients. This presentation will include findings from a systematic literature review of seven qualifying articles which were analyzed to identify the common caregiver burdens and assess the availability of formalized caregiver interventions. This review found that while there is a common understanding of the burdens experienced by cancer caregivers, there is a lack of evidence related to effective, formalized interventions to reduce these burdens. This presentation proposes a first step in developing formalized CAR-T caregiver interventions. This first step is re-designing the Caregiver Journey Mapping process utilized with caregivers of Veterans to be customized for implementation with CAR-T caregivers. The CAR-T Caregiver Experience Map will be demonstrated during this presentation. The map will be utilized by The Cancer Caregiver Alliance located in Birmingham, Alabama, as a first step in identifying key points in the caregiver journey where services are needed.

Biography

Donna T. Hornsby is a proven leader serving as the Executive Director and co-founder of The Cancer Caregiver Alliance, a non-profit she established in January 2024. Donna’s goals are to create a fully integrated intervention model for cancer caregivers of patients who receive CAR-T cell Therapy and Stem Cell Transplants.

Donna’s research interests include two fields of social work study. The first field of study is on the child welfare workforce to improve recruitment, retention, and training of child welfare professionals. The second field focuses on cancer caregivers and developing strategies to reduce caregiver burden to improve both caregiver and patient outcomes.

Donna has over 31 years of experience in social work, with 27 years in child welfare. She has worked on the local, state, and national levels. She began her academic career at the University of Alabama with a bachelor's degree in social work, completed her master’s degree in social work at Virginia Commonwealth University, and is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Social Work at the University of Kentucky.

Donna’s publications include:
Assessment of Children, Youth, and Families in the Child Welfare System: Child Welfare for the 21st Century: A Handbook for Practices, Policies, and Programs. Columbia University Press
Engaging Fathers in Child Welfare. Next Practice/Best Practice, National Child Welfare Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice
Donna is certified as a Trauma and Resiliency Practitioner, trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and is a Licensed Master Social Work.