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      Exploring the Perceived Usefulness and Ease of Use of a Personalized Web-Based Resource (Care Companion) to Support Informal Caring: Qualitative Descriptive Study

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      , BSc, MSc 1 , , BSc, MSc 1 , , MA 2 , , BSc, MSc, MA 1 , , BA, MSc, PhD 1 , , MA, MBBS, PhD, FRCGP 1 ,
      (Reviewer), (Reviewer), (Reviewer), (Reviewer)
      JMIR Aging
      JMIR Publications
      caregivers, information technology, internet

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          Abstract

          Background

          Informal carers play an increasingly vital role in supporting the older population and the sustainability of health care systems. Care Companion is a theory-based and coproduced Web-based intervention to help support informal carers’ resilience. It aims to provide personalized access to information and resources that are responsive to individuals’ caring needs and responsibilities and thereby reduce the burdens associated with caregiving roles. Following the development of a prototype, it was necessary to undertake user acceptability testing to assess its suitability for wider implementation.

          Objective

          This study aimed to undertake user acceptance testing to investigate the perceived usefulness and ease of use of Care Companion. The key objectives were to (1) explore how potential and actual users perceived its usefulness, (2) explore the barriers and facilitators to its uptake and use and (3) gather suggestions to inform plans for an area-wide implementation.

          Methods

          We conducted user acceptance testing underpinned by principles of rapid appraisal using a qualitative descriptive approach. Focus groups, observations, and semistructured interviews were used in two phases of data collection. Participants were adult carers who were recruited through local support groups. Within the first phase, think-aloud interviews and observations were undertaken while the carers familiarized themselves with and navigated through the platform. In the second phase, focus group discussions were undertaken. Interested participants were then invited to trial Care Companion for up to 4 weeks and were followed up through semistructured telephone interviews exploring their experiences of using the platform. Thematic analysis was applied to the data, and a coding framework was developed iteratively with each phase of the study, informing subsequent phases of data collection and analysis.

          Results

          Overall, Care Companion was perceived to be a useful tool to support caregiving activities. The key themes were related to its appearance and ease of use, the profile setup and log-in process, concerns related to the safety and confidentiality of personal information, potential barriers to use and uptake and suggestions for overcoming them, and suggestions for improving Care Companion. More specifically, these related to the need for personalized resources aimed specifically at the carers (instead of care recipients), the benefits of incorporating a Web-based journal, the importance of providing transparency about security and data usage, minimizing barriers to initial registration, offering demonstrations to support uptake by people with low technological literacy, and the need to develop a culturally sensitive approach.

          Conclusions

          The findings identified ways of improving the ease of use and usefulness of Care Companion and demonstrated the importance of undertaking detailed user acceptance testing when developing an intervention for a diverse population, such as informal carers of older people. These findings have informed the further refinement of Care Companion and the strategy for its full implementation.

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          Most cited references19

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          Older Adults Talk Technology: Technology Usage and Attitudes.

          Older adults (n = 113) participated in focus groups discussing their use of and attitudes about technology in the context of their home, work, and healthcare. Participants reported using a wide variety of technology items, particularly in their homes. Positive attitudes (i.e., likes) outnumbered negative attitudes (i.e., dislikes), suggesting that older adults perceive the benefits of technology use to outweigh the costs of such use. Positive attitudes were most frequently related to how the technology supported activities, enhanced convenience, and contained useful features. Negative attitudes were most frequently associated with technology creating inconveniences, unhelpful features, as well as security and reliability concerns. Given that older adults reported more positive than negative attitudes about the technologies they use, these results contradict stereotypes that older adults are afraid or unwilling to use technology. These findings also highlight the importance of perceived benefits of use and ease of use for models of technology acceptance. Emphasizing the benefits of technology in education and training programs may increase future technology adoption.
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            Internet use and well-being in older adults.

            The Internet has become an important social context in the lives of older adults. Extant research has focused on the use of the Internet and how it influences well-being. However, conflicting findings exist. The purpose of the study was to develop an integrative research model in order to determine the nature of the relationships among Internet use, loneliness, social support, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Specifically, loneliness and social support were tested as potential mediators that may modify the relationship between Internet use and indicators of well-being. Data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) were used, and the association among Internet use, social support, loneliness, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being was explored. The sample consisted of 5,203 older adults (aged 65 years and older). The results indicated that higher levels of Internet use were significant predictors of higher levels of social support, reduced loneliness, and better life satisfaction and psychological well-being among older adults.
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              Older adults’ experiences and perceptions of digital technology: (Dis)empowerment, wellbeing, and inclusion

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                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Journal
                JMIR Aging
                JMIR Aging
                JA
                JMIR Aging
                JMIR Publications (Toronto, Canada )
                2561-7605
                Jul-Dec 2019
                20 August 2019
                : 2
                : 2
                : e13875
                Affiliations
                [1 ] Unit of Academic Primary Care Coventry United Kingdom
                [2 ] Carers4Carers Warwickshire United Kingdom
                Author notes
                Corresponding Author: Jeremy Dale jeremy.dale@ 123456warwick.ac.uk
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5139-0016
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0796-5695
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9983-7094
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9906-0350
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-822X
                https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9256-3553
                Article
                v2i2e13875
                10.2196/13875
                6816311
                31518272
                4cd8f66b-f1d4-49d3-8a78-9d592540f494
                ©Amadea Turk, Emma Fairclough, Gillian Grason Smith, Benjamin Lond, Veronica Nanton, Jeremy Dale. Originally published in JMIR Aging (http://aging.jmir.org), 20.08.2019.

                This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR Aging, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://aging.jmir.org, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

                History
                : 4 March 2019
                : 2 April 2019
                : 21 May 2019
                : 20 June 2019
                Categories
                Original Paper
                Original Paper

                caregivers,information technology,internet
                caregivers, information technology, internet

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