Job Title: Founder, Co-Owner, redoing care gmbh; Senior Researcher, ETH Zurich; Member Board of Directors, solicare AG; Senior Nurse Scientist, Cantonal Hospital Aarau; Member, National Advisory Commission on Biomedical Ethics; Member Board of Directors, University Hospital Basel; President, rethinking care (Association); Senior lecturer, Privatdozentin, University of Vienna
Bio: Iren Bischofberger Lerch, Ph.D., M.Sc.N., a 2010-11 Harkness/Careum Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, oversees research, policy, and practice activities on nursing and health service research in general, and family caregiving in particular. Her research team focuses especially on working caregivers. Bischofberger is also program director of the graduate programs, "Master of Science in Nursing by Applied Research" and "Master of Advanced Studies in Care Management." She is scientific board member of the Swiss policy and practice journal Care Management, and editorial board member of Case Management. She serves on the State Secretary's Health Advisory Board of Canton Appenzell Ausserrhoden. Previous positions include research assistant at the University of Bielefeld, Institute of Nursing Science, Germany, and numerous clinical nursing positions. Bischofberger is author of 10 peer-reviewed journal articles and holds a master of science in occupational health from the University of Surrey, U.K., a master of science in nursing, and a Ph.D. in epidemiology from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
Placement: Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Mentors: Carol Levine, Director, Families and Health Care Project, United Hospital Fund; Penny Feldman, Ph.D., Vice President, Research & Evaluation, and Director, Center for Home Care Policy & Research, Visiting Nurse Service of New York
Project: Family-Friendly Care Coordination: From Obstacles to Policy
Description: Bischofberger's project explored how health care policy and practice can support and complement family caregivers. A particular focus was on these caregivers' multiple roles and responsibilities, and the challenges they face in managing family members' chronic illnesses and disabilities. She conducted expert interviews with academics, policymakers, advocates, and providers; analyzed focus group interviews with family caregivers on care transitions; and performed field observations of clinicians in home care, hospitals and nursing homes.