Background: The European eHealthMonitor project (eHM) developed a user-sensitive and interactive Web portal for the dementia care setting called the eHM Dementia Portal (eHM-DP). It aims to provide targeted support for informal caregivers of persons with dementia and professionals.
Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the usefulness and impact of the eHM-DP service in the dementia care setting from two user perspectives: informal caregivers and professionals.
Methods: The evaluation study was conducted from June to September 2014 and followed a before-after, user-participatory, mixed-method design with questionnaires and interviews. The used intervention was the eHM-DP: an interactive Web portal for informal caregivers and professionals that was tested for a 12-week period. Primary outcomes for caregivers included empowerment, quality of life, caregiver burden, decision aid, as well as perceived usefulness and benefits of the eHM-DP. Primary outcomes for professionals involved decision aid, perceived usefulness, and benefits of the eHM-DP.
Results: A total of 25 informal caregivers and 6 professionals used the eHM-DP over the 12-week study period. Both professionals and informal caregivers indicated perceived benefits and support by the eHM-DP. In total, 65% (16/25) of informal caregivers would use the eHM-DP if they had access to it. Major perceived benefits were individualized information acquisition, improved interaction between informal caregivers and professionals, access to support from home, and empowerment in health-related decisions (PrepDM Score: 67.9). Professionals highlighted the improved treatment and care over the disease course (83%, 5/6) and improved health care access for people living in rural areas (67%, 4/6). However, there was no improvement in caregiver burden (Burden Scale for Family Caregivers) and quality of life (EuroQol-5D-5L) over the study period.
Conclusions: Our study provides insight into the different user perspectives on an eHealth support service in the dementia treatment and care setting. These results are of importance for future developments and the uptake of eHealth solutions in the dementia domain and reinforce the importance of early user involvement. Turning to the primary target of the eHM-DP service, our findings suggest that the eHM-DP service proved to be a valuable post-diagnostic support service, in particular for the home-based care setting. Further research on a larger scale is needed to enhance the implementation in existing health care infrastructures.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/resprot.4354 | DOI Listing |
BMC Health Serv Res
January 2025
Save the Children International, Qalai Fatullah, PD 10, Kabul, Afghanistan.
Background: This study examined the wealth-related inequality in women healthcare seeking behaviour for under-five children illness in Afghanistan and its determinants.
Methods: Data of 32409 mothers/caregivers of children under-five were extracted from Afghanistan Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey conducted in 2022. Wealth-related inequalities in women healthcare seeking behaviour for under-five children illness was investigated using Erreygers and Wagstaff concentration indices and curve.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth
January 2025
Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Background: Inadequate and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) defined by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has been associated with preterm birth. However, studies demonstrate inconsistent associations.
Objectives: We examined the associations between categorical and continuous total GWG and moderate to late preterm birth (32-<37 weeks), and evaluated differences in these associations by pre-pregnancy BMI.
Family caregivers play a vital role during the home care of urostomy patients by providing direct care and support. The role of family caregivers may extend to several years, even over ten years, in certain cases. In this process, the caregivers are impacted in various ways due to the patient's conditions and may not be able to identify and address their own needs, which often get ignored and remain unfulfilled.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppetite
January 2025
School of Psychology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT. Electronic address:
Caregivers' feeding practices shape their child's eating patterns and subsequent health. Research shows that sensitive feeding is linked to healthy development and self-regulation but depends on caregiver responsiveness to infant needs and appetite cues. Responsive feeding (RF) is influenced both by characteristics of the caregiver and expressiveness of the infant.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArch Phys Med Rehabil
January 2025
H. Ben Taub Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA; Brain Injury Research Center, TIRR Memorial Hermann, Houston, TX, USA.
Objective: To test the efficacy of a randomized control trial low-touch mobile health intervention designed to promote care partner self-awareness and self-care.
Design: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) included a baseline assessment of self-report surveys of health-related quality of life (HRQOL), care partner-specific outcomes, and the functional/mental status of the person with TBI, as well as a 6-month home monitoring period that included three daily questions about HRQOL, monthly assessments of 12 HRQOL domains, and the use of a Fitbit® to continuously monitor physical activity and sleep. HRQOL surveys were repeated at 3- and 6-months post-home monitoring.
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