The Use of Telehealth among PLWD-Caregiver Dyads during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review (Preprint)

Abstract

Telehealth has gained significant attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, and reimbursement policies in healthcare settings have increased access to remote modes of care delivery. Telehealth has the potential to mitigate care concerns for persons living with dementia (PLWD) and their family caregivers. There is a paucity of knowledge on the performance of telehealth services and users’ experience especially among caregiving dyads during the pandemic.

To describe the implementation, effectiveness, user experience, and barriers to accessing and using telehealth services for PLWD and their caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following the PRISMA checklist for expert reviews, we searched seven databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, Ageline, CINAHL, Social Services Abstracts, Web of Science, Scopus) and an online search engine (Google Scholar). The inclusion criteria for peer-reviewed English publications from March 2020 to June 2022 consisted of (1) including PLWD and/or their family caregivers; (2) the use of telehealth services; and (3) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

24 articles from 10 different countries were included (10 quantitative and 14 qualitative studies). 22 studies focused on PLWD and/or family caregivers, and another 2 interviewed professional health providers. The delivery modes of telehealth services included telephone only (2), video only (15), or mixed (7). Strategies were identified to improve PLWD-caregiver dyads’ accessibility to and experience with telehealth services. Although positive findings were reported on PLWD and caregiver outcomes and user experience, robust evidence is lacking on the comparative effectiveness with in-person services.

Telehealth is a viable alternative to in-person care delivery for groups at risk such as PLWD and their caregivers. Future research should include expanding digital access, adopting RCT designs to establish comparative effectiveness of different modes of service delivery, and increasing sample diversity.

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