In 2021, Dr. Francesca Falzarano founded the ENRICH Lab to establish a program of scientific research that centers on advocacy and is directly informed by the voices of dementia family caregivers. Our goal is to conduct research that informs the design, evaluation, and dissemination of evidence-based solutions to reduce stress, address unmet needs, and enhance access to supportive services tailored for diverse dementia family caregivers.
Motivated by her own experiences in caring for, and losing her parents, the lab has swiftly advanced in pioneering research focused on understanding the diverse experiences of families impacted by dementia. In 2024, the Falzarano Family Caregiving Lab (FFCL) was launched to commemorate our journey from a passionate group of students to a robust research program studying various aspects of the experiences and psychosocial outcomes associated with family caregiving.
At FFCL, our work focuses on the study of caregiving from a developmental perspective. We aim to understand the transitory and heterogeneous needs of dementia caregivers through the entire illness trajectory of the care recipient, from diagnosis to death and into bereavement. Another major component of the FFCL is to provide mentorship and training to a group of diverse undergraduate and graduate-level students interested in pursuing research related to caregiving across interdisciplinary fields.
Overall, our goals are:
To support and enhance the well-being of dementia family caregivers;
To build a nationally recognized research program focused on the development, rigorous evaluation, and testing of clinically relevant and scalable solutions to address gaps in needed resources for caregivers;
Foster collaborations to help establish a sustained line of research focused on innovative, technology-based interventions to support caregiver well-being.
Most importantly, our mission at FFCL is to bring caregivers from the sidelines of society to the forefront. Caregivers are the backbone of the healthcare system, and our needs have been overlooked for too long. The FFCL is dedicated to working to bridge the gap between research and the real world, ensuring continuity and adequate support for dementia family caregivers across the research-practice-community pipeline.