Awareness and handoffs in home care: coordination among informal caregivers

ABSTRACT

Informal caregivers, such as family members and friends, are important for maintaining the health and wellness of the elderly and the chronically ill. However, the complexity of informal caregiving has been under-studied in prior research. In this study, we attempt to answer two main questions – what makes the coordination of patient care so difficult among multiple informal caregivers, and what are the challenges that should be considered in designing technologies to facilitate informal care coordination? To answer these questions, we conducted a qualitative interview study with 15 individuals with caregiving experience. The findings of the study identified the main challenges faced by caregivers in maintaining awareness, coordinating handoffs among informal caregivers, and easing tensions among caregivers and patients. These findings revealed considerations unique for informal caregiver coordination, and helped inform the design of technologies to support the care coordination.

KEYWORDS:

• Informal caregivers
• care coordination
• awareness
• handoff
• tension

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the caregivers who participated in this study, as well as the healthcare providers where we recruited our study participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Institution Review Board (IRB) approvals were obtained from both the university and the field site prior to the data collection.

2. WhatsApp is a freeware, cross-platform and end-to-end encrypted instant messaging application for smartphones (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WhatsApp).