Increase family carers’ awareness about the use and benefits of online interventions
Guidance
People involved in the provision of support to family carers, such as health professionals, patient organizations, should inform them about the potential benefits derived from the use of online interventions and actively promote their use.
Explanation and example
Despite the potential benefits of Internet carer support and training programmes, family carers are not always informed about the existence and use of online alternatives to traditional face-to-face support programmes. Extra attention should be paid to inform and motivate family carers to start and continue using Internet training programmes, especially in countries where the use of the Internet for health related purposes is not common yet. India trial (Mehta et al. 2018) Rrecruitment and adherence for a randomized controlled trial of an online support programme in India (Mehta et al. 2018) turned out to be challenging as most of the family carers were not accustomed to access to the Internet for health-related reasons.
Themes
Informal carers Online intervention Unpaid carers
Target groups
Health care providers & patient organizations Policymakers ResearchersType of evidence
Ángel C. Pinto Bruno (INDUCT ESR14)
RCT India
Systematic review
References
Egan, K. J., Pinto-Bruno, A. C., Bighelli, I., Berg-Weger, M., van Straten, A., Albanese, E., & Pot, A. M. (2018). Online Training and Support Programs Designed to Improve Mental Health and Reduce Burden Among Caregivers of People With Dementia: A Systematic Review. J Am Med Dir Assoc, 19(3), 200-206.e201. doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2017.10.023
Mehta, K. M., Gallagher-Thompson, D., Varghese, M., Loganathan, S., Baruah, U., Seeher, K., . . . Pot, A. M. (2018). iSupport, an online training and support program for caregivers of people with dementia: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial in India. Trials, 19(1), 271. doi.org/10.1186/s13063-018-2604-9
See also
Further implementation of effective Internet-based carer training programmes recommended
As training manager of INDUCT, I am responsible for the overall coordination and organization of the individual and network-wide training of our 15 ESRs. My main task is the organization of five INDUCT Summer and Winter Schools. Together with the local and management team, we identify needs and interests among the ESRs, compose a varied program for the week including training sessions, project meetings and social and networking events, invite academic and non-academic expert speakers, organize practical matters, and afterwards we evaluate the event, write a report, and try to incorporate all suggestions in our future training events.