Mobile Care System for Older Adults: perceptions about its use in caring for people with dementia

Abstract

Abstract Objective: To analyze the perceptions of caregivers and health professionals about a mobile application used for the caring and social support of people with dementia. Method: A qualitative study was performed on the experience of implementing a Mobile Care System for Older Adults (Sistema Móvel de Assistência ao Idoso, SMAI) in the routine of caregivers of people with dementia, treated at an outpatient clinic for cognitive disorders. Data were obtained through the application of questionnaires about the characteristics of caregivers and the Zarit scale to assess the level of burden. An Activities of Daily Living Questionnaire (ADLQ) was applied for functional evaluation. The perception of caregivers and professionals were collected through the audio recording of focus groups and analyzed according to the thematic-categorical analysis technique. Results: Twenty caregivers and five health professionals participated in the focus groups. Categories that emerged from the study revealed themes related to users’ experiences, communication, medication management, feelings of caregivers, patient management strategies, impact of dementia on caregivers’ lives, illness of caregivers and application evaluation. Conclusion: Interventions using mobile applications can help improve communication and social support in the care of dementia. The experience with the SMAI and its applications represented an innovative opportunity for both family caregivers and healthcare professionals.