Shedding light on the VA’s Caregiver application successes and pain points.
Providing in-home care for veterans is a full-time job.
The VA’s Family Caregiver Support Program currently provides financial benefits for caregivers of post-9/11 veterans. The Mission Act of 2018 calls for an expansion allowing pre-9/11 veterans to qualify for the program. In order to scale effectively, the VA wanted to launch a modernized application experience on VA.gov. They hoped an online application will be both easier for applicants to fill out and faster for representatives to process.
The Process
Our team conducted user research to uncover both successes and pain points veterans and caregivers experience as they search and apply for caregiver benefits. While we focused on the form itself, with an emphasis on how applicants would gather the required signatures, our research uncovered additional opportunities to improve the process for future applicants.
My Role
I worked alongside another designer to conduct qualitative interviews with the goal of developing a deeper understanding of veterans and caregivers’ experiences and behaviors as they apply for caregiver benefits. This project was slated to run for a month, so we needed to be diligent with both our recruiting efforts and data synthesizing in order to meet our stakeholders’ deadline.
Who we spoke with
We spoke with a mix of veterans and caregivers to discover different perspectives of the application process. Of the 5 caregivers, 1 currently received benefits from the VA, 1 had received benefits in the past, and 3 did not currently receive benefits. We interviewed 4 veterans; 2 of the veterans we interviewed had their caregiver in the session with them. Additionally, we interviewed 2 veteran service organization representatives (VSO’s).
Our synthesizing method included categorizing the gathered data into themes and collaborating with our team to label pain points, successes, and opportunities.
Discovery
Both the other designer and I conducted 45-minute-long remote interview sessions covering the following topics:
How participants learned about the Caregiver Program
What participants knew about the Caregiver benefits process
How participants applied for the program, if applicable
What Participants’ thought about the current 10-10CG form
What expectations and experiences participants had after submitting the form
Participants’ experiences with technology
Participants’ thoughts about a potential online application form and broader online Caregiver experience
Our Findings
The application form is straightforward, yet many thought an online application would be easier
Caregivers were most often finding and applying for Caregiver benefits
Participants learned about the program through multiple sources, often with conflicting information that caused some confusion
The Caregiver process is not clear to veterans, caregivers, and VSOs
Applicants struggle to find their application status
When caregivers need help, they often reach out to social media communities or other online resources
Veterans expressed concerns about who has access to their information
Decision timeframes ranged widely from 2 weeks to 3 months
Applicants feel frustrated about not receiving information when denied
Applying for Caregiver benefits may cause stress, but the benefits are very helpful
Outcomes
Once completing our interview sessions and synthesizing the data, we presented our findings to our stakeholders. Our research is currently being used to design the online application experience.
Through this project I learned that it’s important to include the entire team and stakeholders in the discovery process to develop empathy and understanding for both our users and the product.