Perceived Benefits and Barriers of mHealth Mindfulness Use for Caregivers of Older Adults with Cognitive Impairment: A Qualitative Exploration

ABSTRACT

Objectives

Mobile (mHealth) mindfulness-based interventions have the potential to be feasible, acceptable, effective, and scalable interventions for caregivers of people living with cognitive impairment. This qualitative study of caregivers of older adults with cognitive impairment explored caregivers’ experiences using a mindfulness therapy mobile application.

Methods

Fifteen caregivers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. Analysis was guided by the phenomenological approach and inductive-deductive analysis.

Results

Six themes were generated from the data: convenience, barriers, perceived helpfulness, useful features, suggested app improvements, and skill transfer. Caregivers reported that the app was easy to use with many perceived benefits. Caregivers also noted some barriers to using the app.

Conclusions

This study revealed that self-directed mHealth delivered mindfulness therapy may be a promising intervention for the caregivers involved in the study. Having the ability to use the app anywhere and at any time was a prominent reason for continued regular use for the participants. This was especially important to some caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The barriers discussed by the caregivers are important considerations for future app-based interventions for caregivers.

Clinical Implications

Clinicians can consider recommending mHealth mindfulness therapy to caregivers as a tool to provide caregivers with additional support.

KEYWORDS:

• mHealth
• dementia
• family caregiving
• app intervention
• mindfulness therapy

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Jacob Cytroen for his work on the transcripts and study help.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, EK. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions e.g., their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2022.2154728

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Elissa Kozlov’s KL2 award from the Rutgers Clinical and Translational Science Center, funded by the National Institutes of Health: KL2TR003018.