About

Tina Savla is a professor of human development and family science at Virginia Tech and a core member of the Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology. Her work examines how life experiences shape health and well-being across midlife and later adulthood. Specifically, her research focuses on how everyday challenges faced by middle-aged and older adults influence mental and physical health over time. She is involved in research teams dedicated to exploring these issues and has been recognized in media for her work on elder fraud prevention programs. Her academic and research activities aim to understand and improve health outcomes for aging populations.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Gerontology
• Psychology
• Clinical psychology
• Internal medicine
• Business
• Biology

Selected publications

• Family Caregivers in Rural Appalachia Caring for Older Relatives With Dementia: Predictors of Service Use

  Innovation in Aging · 2021 · 24 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Gerontology
  • Medicine
  • Psychology

  BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Residents of rural Appalachia tend to experience poorer health and greater economic distress than rural dwellers elsewhere in the United States. Although family is the first line of support for older adults needing care, it is unclear whether dementia caregivers in Appalachia assume these care responsibilities because of strong informal networks that support them in their caregiving role, underresourced formal services for persons with dementia, or culture-based reluctance to accept help from outsiders. This research examines how rural residents of Appalachia manage the care of relatives with dementia. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: = 163). Generalized structural equation models were estimated, with predisposing, need, and enabling variables as predictors. Use of support services (e.g., meal delivery) and personal services (e.g., home health nurse) by family caregivers to care for the person with dementia were the dependent variables, and caregiver's rural community identity and attitude toward services were moderators. RESULTS: Approximately half the sample utilized at least one support service and one personal service. Predisposing and need factors predicted the use of support services, whereas predisposing, need, and enabling factors predicted personal services. Caregivers who strongly identified with their cultural roots were less likely to use personal services unless they held a generally positive view of formal services. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Although the extent of needs and the caregiver's economic situation were essential influences on formal service utilization, the main drivers were the caregiver's identification with rural Appalachian culture and attitude toward services. Findings point to within-group heterogeneity that requires differential approaches to delivery of community-based services accounting for varying attitudes, preferences, and family resources.

  DOI

• Dementia Caregiving During the “Stay-at-Home” Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic

  The Journals of Gerontology Series B · 2020 · 155 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Psychology
  • Gerontology
  • Medicine

  OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to assess family caregivers' primary appraisal of stressors related to COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, secondary appraisal of resources and support availability, and use of coping strategies as predictors of perceived role overload during the stay-at-home phase of the pandemic. METHOD: Telephone interviews with 53 family caregivers of persons with dementia from rural Virginia 2 weeks after enactment of the governor's stay-at-home order using structured and open-ended questions were conducted. RESULTS: Caregivers who were more concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic were at greater odds of experiencing high role overload than those who recognized positive aspects of the pandemic, as were those who received insufficient support from family and friends. DISCUSSION: Use of the transactional model of stress responses yielded important insights about families coping with dementia. Caregivers' perceptions of the pandemic's impact varied, with differential effects on their well-being.

  DOI

Recent grants

• Families in Appalachia Caring for Elders with Alzheimer's Disease (FACES-AD)

  NIH · $418k · 2017–2020

Frequent coauthors

• Karen A. Roberto

  Virginia Tech

  71 shared

• George Boutsalis

  Medscape

  49 shared

• Natasha K. Sriraman

  49 shared

• Lisa Akers

  Swanson Center

  49 shared

• T W Eberly

  John Wiley & Sons (Germany)

  49 shared

• Ann Kellams

  University of Virginia

  49 shared

• Rosemary Blieszner

  Virginia Tech

  42 shared

• Brenda M. Davy

  Virginia Tech

  34 shared

Labs

• Department of Human Development and Family SciencePI

Education

• NIMH Post-doctoral Fellowship, Human Development and Family Studies

  Pennsylvania State University

  2007

• PhD, Child and Family Development

  University of Georgia

  2004

• MS, Human Development

  Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science

  1998

• Diploma, Integrated Computer Sciences

  Nirmala Niketan College of Home Science

  1995

Similar researchers at Virginia Tech

• Dennis R. Deanh-102
• Wenjing Louh-77
• Pendleton R. Montagueh-77
• Romesh Batrah-74
• Marc A. Edwardsh-73