The iMHere 2.0 System for Family Caregivers of Older Adults: A Focus Group

Authors

  • Haomin Hu Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Zara Ambadar Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Eleanor Quinby Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Yong K. Choi Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  • I Made Agus Setiawan Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Department of Computer Science, Udayana University, Badung, Bali, Indonesia
  • Andy Saptono Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Bambang Parmanto Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
  • Brad E. Dicianno Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Human Engineering Research Laboratories, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2023.6557

Keywords:

Community, Family caregivers, Home care, Older adults, Smartphone, Telerehabilitation

Abstract

Background: Family caregivers with continuous caregiving responsibilities are at increased risk for adverse physical and mental health outcomes. In response to the challenges of caregiving, a mobile health system (iMHere 2.0) was developed to support caregivers. The study's objective was to gather feedback from family caregivers of older adults on the current features of iMHere 2.0 and to formulate design criteria for future iterations of the system. Methods: An exploratory qualitative study with thematic analyses of focus group feedback. Findings: A total of 10 caregivers of older adults participated in a focus group. Five themes emerged: (1) Monitoring health data, (2) Setting up customized reminders, (3) Supporting care coordination, (4) Balancing security and multiple user access, and (5) Disseminating iMHere 2.0 into the community, along with some potential barriers to implementation. Conclusions: Design criteria were developed to provide a framework for iterative design and development of the iMHere system to support caregivers of older adults.

  

References

Administration for Community Living. (ACL; 2022). 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. Retrieved December 2, 2022, from https://acl.gov/CaregiverStrategy

AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving (AARP & NAC; 2020). Caregiving in the United States 2020. Washington, DC: AARP. May 2020. https://doi.org/10.26419/ppi.00103.001

Bendixen, R. M., Fairman, A. D., Karavolis, M., Sullivan, C., & Parmanto, B. (2017). A user-centered approach: understanding client and caregiver needs and preferences in the development of mHealth apps for self-management. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth, 5(9), e141. https://doi.org/10.2196/mhealth.7136

Chi, N. C., & Demiris, G. (2015). A systematic review of telehealth tools and interventions to support family caregivers. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 21(1), 37-44. https://doi.org/10.1177/1357633X14562734

Choi, N. G., Wilson, N. L., Sirrianni, L., Marinucci, M. L., & Hegel, M. T. (2014). Acceptance of home-based telehealth problem-solving therapy for depressed, low-income homebound older adults: Qualitative interviews with the participants and aging-service case managers. Gerontologist, 54(4), 704-713. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnt083

Choi, Y. K., Lazar, A., Demiris, G., & Thompson, H. J. (2019). Emerging smart home technologies to facilitate engaging with aging. Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 45(12), 41-48.

Dicianno, B. E., Fairman, A. D., McCue, M., Parmanto, B., Yih, E., McCoy, A., Pramana, G., Yu, D. X., McClelland, J., Collins, D. M., & Brienza, D. M. (2016). Feasibility of using mobile health to promote self-management in spina bifida. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 95(6), 425-437. https://doi.org/10.1097/PHM.0000000000000400

Dicianno, B. E., Parmanto, B., Fairman, A. D., Crytzer, T. M., Yu, D. X., Pramana, G., Coughenour, D., & Petrazzi, A. A. (2015). Perspectives on the evolution of mobile (mHealth) technologies and application to rehabilitation. Physical Therapy, 95(3), 397-405. https://doi.org/10.2522/ptj.20130534

Garnett, A., Northwood, M., Ting, J., & Sangrar, R. (2022). mHealth interventions to support caregivers of older adults: Equity-focused systematic review. JMIR Aging, 5(3), e33085.

Gellis, Z. D., Kenaley, B., McGinty, J., Bardelli, E., Davitt, J., & Ten Have, T. (2012). Outcomes of a telehealth intervention for homebound older adults with heart or chronic respiratory failure: A randomized controlled trial. Gerontologist, 52(4), 541-552. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnr134

Graven, L. J., Glueckauf, R. L., Regal, R. A., Merbitz, N. K., Lustria, M. L. A., & James, B. A. (2021). Telehealth interventions for family caregivers of persons with chronic health conditions: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials. International Journal of Telemedicine Applications, 2021, 3518050. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/3518050

Hajjar, L., & Kragen, B. (2021). Timely communication through telehealth: Added value for a caregiver during COVID-19. Frontiers in Public Health, 9, 755391. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.755391

Kent, E. E., Ornstein, K. A., & Dionne-Odom, J. N. (2020). The family caregiving crisis meets an actual pandemic. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 60(1), e66-e69.

Kryger, M. A., Crytzer, T. M., Fairman, A., Quinby, E. J., Karavolis, M., Pramana, G., Setiawan, I. M. A., McKernan, G. P., Parmanto, B., & Dicianno, B. E. (2019). The effect of the interactive mobile health and rehabilitation system on health and psychosocial outcomes in spinal cord injury: Randomized controlled trial. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 21(8), e14305.

Orfila, F., Coma-Solé, M., Cabanas, M., Cegri-Lombardo, F., Moleras-Serra, A., & Pujol-Ribera, E. (2018). Family caregiver mistreatment of the elderly: Prevalence of risk and associated factors. BMC Public Health, 18(1), 167. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-5067-8

Schulz, R., Beach, S. R., Czaja, S. J., Martire, L. M., & Monin, J. K. (2020). Family caregiving for older adults. Annual Review of Psychology, 71, 635-659. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-010419-050754

Schulz, R., Burgio, L., Burns, R., Eisdorfer, C., Gallagher-Thompson, D., Gitlin, L. N., & Mahoney, D. F. (2003). Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregiver Health (REACH): Overview, site-specific outcomes, and future directions. Gerontologist, 43(4), 514-520.

Schulz, R., Eden, J., National Academies of Sciences, E., & Medicine. (2016). Family caregiving roles and impacts. In Families caring for an aging America. National Academies Press (US).

Schulz, R., & Sherwood, P. R. (2008). Physical and mental health effects of family caregiving. Journal of Social Work Education, 44(sup3), 105-113.

Setiawan, I. M. A., Zhou, L., Alfikri, Z., Saptono, A., Fairman, A. D., Dicianno, B. E., & Parmanto, B. (2019). An adaptive mobile health system to support self-management for persons with chronic conditions and disabilities: Usability and feasibility studies. JMIR Formative Research, 3(2), e12982. https://doi.org/10.2196/12982

Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. M. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Sage Publications, Inc.

Sumner, J., Chong, L. S., Bundele, A., & Wei Lim, Y. (2021). Co-designing technology for aging in place: A systematic review. Gerontologist, 61(7), e395-e409.

Tang, F., Jang, H., Mulvaney, E. A., Lee, J. S., Musa, D., & Beach, S. (2019). Mental health among older adults with caregiving needs: The role of social networks. Social Work Research, 43(3), 157-167. https://doi.org/10.1093/swr/svz013

Ward, R. E., Setiawan, I. M. A., Quinby, E., Fair, M., Ambadar, Z., Parmanto, B., & Dicianno, B. E. (2022). Mobile health to support community-integration of individuals with disabilities using iMHere 2.0: Focus group study. JMIR Human Factors, 9(1), e31376. https://doi.org/10.2196/31376

Downloads

Published

2023-05-11

How to Cite

Hu, H., Ambadar, Z., Quinby, E., Choi, Y. K., Setiawan, I. M. A., Saptono, A., Parmanto, B., & Dicianno, B. E. (2023). The iMHere 2.0 System for Family Caregivers of Older Adults: A Focus Group. International Journal of Telerehabilitation, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.5195/ijt.2023.6557

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 1 (2023)

Section

Mobile Health Systems

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Haomin Hu, Zara Ambadar, Eleanor Quinby, Yong K. Choi, I Made Agus Setiawan, Andy Saptono, Bambang Parmanto, Brad E. Dicianno

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

  1. The Author retains copyright in the Work, where the term “Work” shall include all digital objects that may result in subsequent electronic publication or distribution.
  2. Upon acceptance of the Work, the author shall grant to the Publisher the right of first publication of the Work.
  3. The Author shall grant to the Publisher and its agents the nonexclusive perpetual right and license to publish, archive, and make accessible the Work in whole or in part in all forms of media now or hereafter known under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License or its equivalent, which, for the avoidance of doubt, allows others to copy, distribute, and transmit the Work under the following conditions:
    1. Attribution—other users must attribute the Work in the manner specified by the author as indicated on the journal Web site;
    with the understanding that the above condition can be waived with permission from the Author and that where the Work or any of its elements is in the public domain under applicable law, that status is in no way affected by the license.
  4. The Author is able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the nonexclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the Work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), as long as there is provided in the document an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
  5. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post online a prepublication manuscript (but not the Publisher’s final formatted PDF version of the Work) in institutional repositories or on their Websites prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. Any such posting made before acceptance and publication of the Work shall be updated upon publication to include a reference to the Publisher-assigned DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and a link to the online abstract for the final published Work in the Journal.
  6. Upon Publisher’s request, the Author agrees to furnish promptly to Publisher, at the Author’s own expense, written evidence of the permissions, licenses, and consents for use of third-party material included within the Work, except as determined by Publisher to be covered by the principles of Fair Use.
  7. The Author represents and warrants that:
    1. the Work is the Author’s original work;
    2. the Author has not transferred, and will not transfer, exclusive rights in the Work to any third party;
    3. the Work is not pending review or under consideration by another publisher;
    4. the Work has not previously been published;
    5. the Work contains no misrepresentation or infringement of the Work or property of other authors or third parties; and
    6. the Work contains no libel, invasion of privacy, or other unlawful matter.
  8. The Author agrees to indemnify and hold Publisher harmless from Author’s breach of the representations and warranties contained in Paragraph 6 above, as well as any claim or proceeding relating to Publisher’s use and publication of any content contained in the Work, including third-party content.

Revised 7/16/2018. Revision Description: Removed outdated link. 

Funding data