The Role of Educational Technology in Caregiving

Abstract

Huge demographic and socioeconomic changes are part of the experience of present societies. One consequence is the aging of the population and increasingly more people without the capacity for self-care. The provision of intergenerational care, namely caring for the older individuals, is a focus of attention for health professionals, but is also part of the political and social agenda. There is a need to regulate, support, and facilitate the daily life of families who have a dependent aged member. In contemporary societies, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is an important driver of innovation, responsible for a large transformation of living standards and new social behaviors. Within the scope of the provision of informal care, ICT can provide a great support, representing a primordial tool for updating the organizations in order to improve their efficiency, incorporating and making available services, and anticipating needs. Thus, the development of equipment, electronic applications, and websites for the elderly or their family caregivers should be conceptualized and customized to the profile of these users. A major challenge faced by healthcare institutions is to focus their services by organizing them around citizens' needs.

Transitional care to caregivers of dependent older people: an integrative literature review

“…There is a consensus among researchers regarding the introduction of instruments that assess caregivers' needs (5)(6) , to individualize the intervention proposed to people that provide care to dependent older people (6) . However, the literature indicates that the objective of interventions oriented toward caregivers is training them or relieving the emotional overload they experience, so they can replace or help dependent older people in the execution of activities of daily living and manage the therapeutic regimen, especially the adequate and safe medication administration (4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) .…”

Algorithm for transitional care for caregivers of dependent older adults: a validation study

“…The literature review helped identify the breadth of these needs: transitioning to the role of IC (information, mastering care, and emotional support), the need to acquire new knowledge and skills to respond safely to the dependent older adult's needs (18) ; caregiver self-care, with time for leisure, social life and rest, because the constant state of alert negatively influences rest and quality of life (19) ; health -caregiving implies ongoing effort at a physical, cognitive, and emotional level and is associated with an increased incidence of diseases (1) and most caregivers are over the age of 65.8 years and about 80% of them take at least one medication chronically (7) ; economic -many caregivers have to leave their job (20)(21) with a consequent loss of income, which is exacerbated by the financial cost of caregiving (20 ); and last, social and community needs, namely those of support services and institutions and of professional teams to help supervise home care (1,22) .…”

“…After identifying these needs in the literature, the researchers established it was important to begin the interventions with already during the hospital stay. When designing the algorithm, the guidelines of various authors were followed with two objectives: promote adaptation to the new role (transition into informal caregiver) and to acquire knowledge and skills (5)(6)18,(22)(23)(24) . At this point it is important to ensure the following: training to ensure care management of dependent older adults, via information and training, with the goal of providing ICs with theoretical and practical knowledge that will allow them to provide quality care with minimal repercussions for themselves (18) ; developing a discharge plan, with training beginning in the initial stages of the hospital stay (6,23) ; coordinating with community resources to ensure continuity of care (5,17,24) ; and training for instrumental care, such as hygiene, dressing and undressing, feeding, elimination, and mobility (6,(17)(18) .…”