Challenges and opportunities for caregiving through information and communication technology

The increased susceptibility of world’s population to diseases augmented with the decrease in the healthcare workforce leads to over-reliance on caregivers. This increased burden on caregivers adversely impacts their quality of life. However, information and communication technology (ICT) has the potential to facilitate caregiving. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the opportunities and challenges for caregiving through ICT, the development of a prototype to support caregivers better monitor their care recipients (known as clients) and the evaluation of that prototype. A qualitative study with 10 caregivers was conducted to address the research questions from which data was coded and analysed. Using this data, a web-based prototype was developed and evaluated by 5 caregivers and 5 technology experts. The instruments used were interviews and focus groups. The results revealed eight categories for improving care identified by caregivers.