Bringing older informal caregivers and recipients to the digital age: Experiences of using digital services.

BACKGROUND: Advancing informal caregivers' and recipients' health and functional capacity and enabling living at home are significant objectives in Finnish society. The purpose of this project is to create a model for supporting the welfare services of informal caregivers digitally. METHOD: The data...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Technology & Disability Vol. 31; no. 3; pp. 115 - 128
Autores principales: Salin, Sirpa, Laaksonen, Hannele
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. 2019
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:BACKGROUND: Advancing informal caregivers' and recipients' health and functional capacity and enabling living at home are significant objectives in Finnish society. The purpose of this project is to create a model for supporting the welfare services of informal caregivers digitally. METHOD: The data were collected in late 2017 by interviewing the informal caregivers (N = 19) who took part in the project in one city (n = 9) and one rural municipality (n = 10). They filled the 15D quality of life instrument with added questions before and after intervention and evaluated the digital service after seven months of piloting. The recipients (n = 19) also filled a questionnaire on a memory game device. RESULTS: Informal caregivers considered their quality of life good, though approximately half felt mildly depressed and distressed. Their wishes for tablet programs included peer support, lectures, and live entertainment. Nearly all caregivers recommended the digital service to others despite technical problems. The difficulty of the game divided the recipients' opinions. A functional service model is presented as a summary of the project. CONCLUSIONS: It is paramount to move the entire service to a single platform with large shortcuts to each segment. This will enable the user to easily use the programs and contact people.