Co-construction of an Internet-based intervention for older assistive technology users and their family caregivers: stakeholders’ perceptions

Abstract

Purpose: Providing care to older adults using assistive technology can be challenging for family caregivers. To inform the development of an Internet-based intervention, this study aimed to identify older assistive technology users and family caregivers’ needs related to assistive technology procurement, and to explore how to offer remote support through an Internet-based intervention.

Methods: Based on an iterative user-centered design approach, 30 semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders about their experiences with assistive technology procurement/attribution and their perceptions of a proposed intervention. A modified content analysis approach was used, with a mix of emerging and a priori concepts.

Results: Participants view assistive technology procurement as an ongoing cyclical process, with potential unmet needs at key moments before and after assistive technology procurement. Assistive technology user-family caregiver dyads needs focus on assistive technology information, access, assistive technology-person-context match, training and support. While participants felt there were benefits to the proposed intervention they also identified potential implementation barriers.

Conclusion: Assistive technology Internet-based interventions dedicated to family caregivers should ensure systematic and tailored follow-up while integrating some form of human support. This study guides the prototype design of the proposed intervention towards a graded support approach, empowering assistive technology users and family caregivers to resolve assistive technology-related challenges.

Implication for rehabilitation

• Providing home-based care to older adults using assistive technology (e.g., mobility aids, communication aids) can be challenging for family caregivers.

• Using a user-centered design approach, an Internet-based intervention is under development to support older assistive technology users and their family caregivers.

• Through interviews with diverse stakeholders, this study explores unmet needs related to assistive technology procurement and perceptions about the proposed intervention.

Keywords:

• Assistive technology
• caregiver
• telehealth
• telerehabilitation
• aged
• aging
• disabled persons
• information and communication technologies

Acknowledgements

The team wishes to acknowledge the CRIR for administrative support, TelASK and Vincent Talbot for technological insight, Véronique Fontaine for her help in conducting and analyzing part of the interviews and Alexander Pysklywec for editing.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financed by AGEWELL NCE [CRP 2015-WP2.2] and the Initiative for the development of new technologies and innovative practices in Rehabilitation (INSPIRE) research program (Ahmed) [010228]. The authors acknowledge salary support from Fonds de recherche en sante du Quebec (Auger, Ahmed) [32988, 33084] and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Mortenson) [360820].