Typology of Technology-Supported Dementia Care Interventions From an In-Home Telehealth Trial

Abstract

Identifying the needs of dementia caregivers is critical for supporting dementia home care. This study identified a typology of expert interventions delivered to dementia caregivers during an innovative telehealth trial that used in-home video recordings to directly observe care challenges. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyze narrative notes describing interventions that were developed based on video data submitted by 33 caregiver-care recipient dyads. Two major themes emerged: education and skills for dementia care and caregiver support. Ten subthemes included education and skills related to: behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, disease expectations, safety, activities of daily living, medical care optimization, and medication utilization and caregiver support related to: respite, positive reinforcement, social and financial support, and self-care. Families providing in-home dementia care experience a wide range of care challenges. By using video data, dementia care experts were able to witness and evaluate challenging care situations and provide individualized feedback.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02483520.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; behavioral symptoms; caregivers; gerontology; home care; location of care; methods; population focus; qualitative; telemedicine.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicting Interests

The Authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1.

Study Procedure Graphic Design by Chris Lorenzen © 2016.

Figure 2.

Flow Chart of Typology Development Process

Figure 3.

Codebook Creation Process