HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FOR RURAL CAREGIVERS: INTERSECTING SCIENCE POLICY AND PRACTICE

摘要

More than 5.4 million people in the U.S. are affected by Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias (AD), most of whom receive care and support from family caregivers and are medically managed by their primary care provider (PCP). However, there are a number of barriers to providing care to those with AD: PCPs report difficulty in communicating with AD patients, their caregivers, and their in-home providers; in addition, caregivers experience compromised health and psychiatric and physical consequences to the burden associated with caregiving. AD caregivers in rural settings experience additional unique challenges, given local limitations in services, significant distance of services, and limited availability of information regarding AD and available services. To address these issues, a multi-disciplinary team, along with community partners, has developed CareHeroes, a bilingual (English/Spanish), internet and Android-based App that has multiple functions aimedto: improve disease management; provide case managers, caregivers, and PCPs with the ability to share critical health-related information in real time; and increase access to caregiving information and resources. This presentation will summarize pilot data from several studies of CareHeroes to highlight: perceptions about usability and satisfaction among users (caregivers, home care case managers, PCPs) and lessons learned about developing health information technology for a diverse population of dementia caregivers. Then, it will discuss specific policy, practice, and technical considerations that present opportunities and challenges for extending CareHeroes to rural AD caregivers as a cost-effective, sustainable mechanism for providing them with ongoing support, caregiving information and ability to communicate with healthcare providers.