Our Research
We develop interventions that foster connectivity and meaning making among those most affected by loss, isolation, and health inequities.
Active Projects
Evaluating the Pikes Peak Elder Justice Center’s Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (E-MDT)
Caregiver Family Therapy Support Group Pilot Feasibility Study
We adapted Caregiver Family Therapy (CFT), a therapeutic approach for caregivers of those with AD/ADRD, into a group therapy format that emphasizes skill building and resource knowledge. This study evaluated whether the group format of CFT was feasible, acceptable to group participants, and whether participants experienced any clinical benefit from attending the group.
In collaboration with community stakeholders Voices of Grief, we conducted two city-wide surveys to learn more about the grief experiences and service needs of our community.
We crafted the surveys to answer two questions:
Is there a need for a stand-alone grief services and education center in Colorado Springs?
Is there support for such a center amongst the professional community?
Watch our presentation of preliminary results to the Colorado Springs City Council.
Currently, we are developing and pilot testing targeted grief support programs for the needful populations identified in our survey research.
Colorado Springs Grief Support Needs and Program Development
Loneliness among older adults in long term care (LTC) is rampant. Existing interventions aiming to increase social connectivity are effective, but place the burden of programming on care facility staff or residents themselves. We consider this unfair and limiting.
To address this, we are investigating the facilitators and barriers of visiting a loved one in LTC. We aim to leverage our findings to create an intervention that encourages people residing independently in the community to increase their social engagement with known LTC residents.
Loneliness & Relocation in Older Age
This project evaluates the Elder Abuse Multidisciplinary Team (E-MDT) operated by the Pikes Peak Elder Justice Center (PPEJC), a nonprofit dedicated to protecting older adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The E-MDT brings together professionals from legal, medical, mental health, and social service sectors to collaboratively address complex elder abuse cases. This study assesses the team's accessibility, effectiveness, and impact by examining client demographics, person-level and system-level barriers, and team functioning. Using a mixed-methods approach, the project analyzes two years of case files and gathers input from MDT members and stakeholders. Findings will inform best practices, identify barriers to service access, and support improvements in team protocols.
Completed projects
Group Therapies for Socially Isolated Older Adults
In March of 2020, Dr. Weiskittle developed and disseminated a rapid-response telehealth group therapy manual targeting social isolation and COVID-19 related anxieties among older adults.
The group was widely adopted across the world and in over 50 clinical settings in the U.S.
A feedback survey of providers who facilitated groups using the manual supported its feasibility and acceptability.
The Weiskittle Lab is in ongoing collaboration with clinics across the country to evaluate the group’s effectiveness and to create updated versions of the manual, such as one that focuses on loneliness in older adults more broadly and one designed specifically for caregivers.
Grief & COVID-19 Belief Study
Did sociopolitical beliefs about COVID-19 impact grief experiences during the pandemic?
If someone’s official cause of death was COVID-19, but those bereaved believe the death was due to something else, do they have more difficulty making meaning of their loss?
We explore these questions and more in this national survey study.