Feasibility and Acceptability of Collecting Passive Smartphone Data for Potential Use in Digital Phenotyping Among Family Caregivers and Patients With Advanced Cancer.

Purpose: Modeling passively collected smartphone sensor data (called digital phenotyping) has the potential to detect distress among family caregivers and patients with advanced cancer and could lead to novel clinical models of cancer care. The purpose of this study was to assess the feasibility and acceptability of collecting passive smartphone data from family caregivers and their care recipients with advanced cancer over 24 weeks.

Methods: This was an observational feasibility study.

The ethical dimensions of utilizing Artificial Intelligence in palliative care.

Palliative care aims to improve the quality of life for seriously ill individuals and their caregivers by addressing their holistic care needs through a person- and family-centered approach. While there have been growing efforts to integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) into palliative care practice and research, it remains unclear whether the use of AI can facilitate the goals of palliative care. In this paper, we present three hypothetical case examples of using AI in the palliative care context, covering machine learning algorithms that predict patient mortality, natural language processing models that detect psychological symptoms, and AI chatbots addressing caregivers' unmet needs.

Exploring Social Support Experiences of Caregivers of Persons Living With Dementia in Hospice Care.

As the number of persons living with dementia (PLWD) enrolling in hospice care rises, caregiver support becomes increasingly crucial. While social support can help buffer caregiver stress, many caregivers report feeling isolated and having unmet needs, highlighting the limited research on this population. This qualitative descriptive study aimed to better understand caregivers' social support during the period when the PLWD is enrolled in hospice care.

Addressing Statistical Power and Increasing Diversity in Hospice Research: Electronic Medical Record Participant Identification Compared to Nurse Referral Approaches to Recruitment.

Context: Recruitment of targeted samples into hospice clinical trials is often challenging. While electronic medical records (EMR) are commonly used in hospital-based research, it is uncommon in hospice research. The community setting and the variability in hospices and their medical record creates unique challenges.

Addressing Digital Literacy in Telehealth Interventions for Persons with Dementia.

As telehealth reshapes healthcare, the landscape for persons with dementia and their caregivers is rapidly evolving. Our scoping review examines how digital health equity was addressed or examined in the context of telehealth interventions among PwD and their family caregivers. We conducted a scoping review and used four electronic databases, PubMed, CINHAL, Embase, and Scopus, using combinations of keywords including "digital literacy," "caregivers," and "dementia.

Adapting an Intervention to Address Barriers to Pain Management in Hospice: Formative Research to Inform EMPOWER-D for Dementia Caregivers.

Background: Nearly half of more than 1.7 million older Americans who receive hospice care each year have a primary or comorbid diagnosis of dementia. Pain is often undertreated in this patient population owing to myriad factors, including unmet informational needs among family caregivers.

Social media use and mental health among older adults with multimorbidity: the role of self-care efficacy.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and trends in the use of social media over time and explore whether social media use is related to better self-care efficacy and thus related to better mental health among United States older adults with multimorbidity.

Materials And Methods: Respondents aged 65 years+ and having 2 or more chronic conditions from the 2017-2020 Health Information National Trends Survey were analyzed (N = 3341) using weighted descriptive and logistic regression analyses.

Results: Overall, 48% (n = 1674) of older adults with multimorbidity used social media and there was a linear trend in use over time, increasing from 41.

Does Family Functioning Matter? Understanding the Relationship Between Family Interactions and Depressive Symptoms for Caregivers of Cancer Patients.

Background: Caregivers of cancer patients are at increased risk of depression and other health challenges. There is limited understanding of the role of the caregiver's own family members in promoting or discouraging mental wellbeing. Family functioning conceptualizes how family members interact to promote a positive family environment and has the potential to impact caregiver mental health.

Loneliness, psychological distress, and the moderating effect of positive aspects of caregiving among cancer caregivers.

Purpose: Family caregivers of patients with cancer often experience both loneliness and symptoms of psychological distress, such as anxiety and depression. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations between loneliness and anxiety and loneliness and depression among family caregivers of patients with cancer and to investigate whether positive aspects of caregiving can have a moderating effect on these relationships.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional exploratory study using baseline data from an ongoing multisite clinical trial.

Interpretability Study for Long Interview Transcripts from Behavior Intervention Sessions for Family Caregivers of Dementia Patients.

Mental health challenges are significant global public health concerns, affecting millions of people and impacting individuals, families, and communities alike. Therapists play a crucial role in supporting those with mental health issues by providing emotional, practical, and financial assistance, as well as facilitating access to treatment and services. Utilizing one-to-one interviews is an effective approach that yields valuable transcripts for further study.

Accessibility, Relevance, and Impact of a Symptom Monitoring Tool for Home Hospice Care: Theory Elaboration and Qualitative Assessment.

Background: Early users found Engagement and Visualization to Improve Symptoms in Oncology Care (ENVISION), a web-based application designed to improve home management of hospice patients' symptoms and support patients' and family caregivers' well-being, to be generally useful and easy to use. However, they also raised concerns about potential challenges users with limited technological proficiency might experience.

Objective: We sought to concurrently accomplish two interrelated study aims: (1) to develop a conceptual framework of digital inclusivity for health information systems and (2) to apply the framework in evaluating the digital inclusivity of the ENVISION application.

Determining the Innovativeness of Nurses Who Engage in Activities That Encourage Innovative Behaviors.

Background: We sought to understand the innovativeness of nurses engaging in innovative behaviors and quantify the associated characteristics that make nurses more able to innovate in practice. We first compared the innovativeness scores of our population; then we examined those who self-identified as an innovator versus those who did not to explore differences associated with innovativeness between these groups.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey study of nurses in the US engaging in innovative behaviors was performed.

Usability testing of a mobile health application to support individuals with active tuberculosis: a mixed methods study.

Poor adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment leads to further disease transmission, worsened outcomes, and the development of drug resistance. Digital adherence technologies may facilitate a more patient-centered approach for improving TB treatment outcomes than current strategies. The objective of this study was to evaluate and explore improving usability of the TB Treatment Support Tools (TB-TST) mobile application.

Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratories: Innovating aging research and Alzheimer's care.

This perspective outlines the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratories (AITC) at Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Massachusetts, highlighting their roles in developing AI-based technologies for older adult care, particularly targeting Alzheimer's disease (AD). These National Institute on Aging (NIA) centers foster collaboration among clinicians, gerontologists, ethicists, business professionals, and engineers to create AI solutions. Key activities include identifying technology needs, stakeholder engagement, training, mentoring, data integration, and navigating ethical challenges.

Family Caregiver Communication and Perceptions of Involvement in Hospice Care.

The burden of caregiving for family members is significant and becomes particularly challenging at end of life, with negative effects on mental health, including anxiety and depression. Research has shown caregivers need better communication with their health care team. To evaluate the relationship between hospice team communication with caregivers and caregiver involvement in care.

American Geriatrics Society response to the World Falls Guidelines.

Falls are a major cause of preventable death, injury, and reduced independence in adults aged 65 years and older. The American Geriatrics Society and British Geriatrics Society (AGS/BGS) published a guideline in 2001, revised in 2011, addressing common risk factors for falls and providing recommendations to reduce fall risk in community-dwelling older adults. In 2022, the World Falls Guidelines (WFG) Task Force created updated, globally oriented fall prevention risk stratification, assessment, management, and interventions for older adults.

Advance care planning and outpatient visits among older adults across cognitive levels.

Advance care planning (ACP) can help reduce end-of-life care challenges for persons with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia and their care partners. Building on our previous work, we examined the impact of ACP on outpatient/doctor visits in older adults with dementia/impaired cognition and normal cognition. Using datasets from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we conducted a cross-sectional study of 17,698 participants aged 51 years and older.

Can Artificial Intelligence Aid Diagnosis by Teleguided Point-of-Care Ultrasound? A Pilot Study for Evaluating a Novel Computer Algorithm for COVID-19 Diagnosis Using Lung Ultrasound.

With the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, there is an increasing demand for remote monitoring technologies to reduce patient and provider exposure. One field that has an increasing potential is teleguided ultrasound, where telemedicine and point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) merge to create this new scope. Teleguided POCUS can minimize staff exposure while preserving patient safety and oversight during bedside procedures.

Smart Speaker and ICT Use in Relationship With Social Connectedness During the Pandemic: Loneliness and Social Isolation Found in Older Adults in Low-Income Housing.

Background And Objectives: Social well-being of older adults living in low-income housing was disproportionately affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We explored low-income residents' experiences of social isolation and loneliness and strategies to remain socially connected during the pandemic.

Research Design And Methods: As part of a larger, 3-phase user-centered design study, we conducted a qualitative study using focus groups to gain insights into social isolation experiences and the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs), including smart speakers, in social connectedness (N = 25, 76% African American).

Depressive Symptoms in Caregivers of Hospice Cancer Patients.

Family members and close friends provide countless hours of care for patients enrolled in hospice care. They do so without pay, often sacrificing their own financial well-being and health in the process. This study asks 4 research questions: (1) What is the prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms among caregivers of hospice cancer patients? (2) What demographic and contextual factors (such as relationship with patient) are related to the severity of depressive symptoms among caregivers of hospice cancer patients? (3) Are caregiver quality of life and caregiver burden associated with depressive symptoms? and (4) Is baseline depression associated with change in depression over time? This was a secondary analysis of data collected in a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Pain Management Education for Rural Hospice Family Caregivers: A Pilot Study With Embedded Implementation Evaluation.

Background: Assessing and managing hospice patients' pain is a common source of anxiety among hospice family caregivers (HFCGs), especially caregivers in rural communities who face special challenges including distance, limited access, and concerns about opioid misuse.

Objective: To pilot test , a pain management education intervention for rural HFCGs. We sought to determine whether there was a signal of benefit for clinically-relevant outcomes and to identify contextual factors pertinent to conducting a future randomized clinical trial of .