More Like this

1. Meal Planning for Alzheimer's Disease Using an Ontology-Assisted Multiple Criteria Decision-Making Approach

   https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEHMC.316133  

   Amiri, Maryam; Li, Juan; Roy, Souradip (January 2022, International Journal of E-Health and Medical Communications)

   As healthy diets and nutrition are crucial for people with Alzheimer's disease (AD), caregivers of patients with AD need to provide a balanced diet with the correct nutrients to boost the health and well-being of patients. However, this is challenging as they are likely to suffer from aging-related problems (such as teeth or gum problems) that make eating more uncomfortable; the planners, who are usually patients' family members, generally face high pressure, a busy schedule, and little experience. To help unprofessional caregivers of AD plan meals with the right nutrition and flavors, in this paper, the authors propose a meal planning mechanism that uses a multiple criteria decision-making approach to integrate various factors that affect a caregiver's choice of meals for AD patients. Ontology-based knowledge has been used to model personal preferences and characteristics and customize general diet recommendations. Case studies have demonstrated the feasibility and usability of the proposed approach. 

   more » « less
2. Empowering Dementia Caregivers: Incorporating Caregiving Training Resources Into Current Procedural Technology Codes

   https://doi.org/10.1097/NUR.0000000000000803  

   Ko, Eunjung; Rose, Karen M.; Wright, Kathy D. (January 2024, Clinical Nurse Specialist)

   Abstract Purpose/ObjectivesWe aim to explore Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for caregiving training services and their potential impacts on caregivers of people living with dementia. Description of the Project/ProgramIn response to the growing need for support for caregivers of people living with physical and mental health issues, CPT codes for caregiving training services will be activated for the calendar year 2024. These codes cover (1) family group behavior management and modification training services and (2) caregiver training for techniques to help patients maintain their quality of life. Caregivers will access such training support through the CPT codes provided by treating practitioners. The duration of training will vary by code. OutcomeImplementing CPT codes for caregiver training services highlights the vital role of caregivers in patient care. This support may improve their skills and communication with healthcare providers. However, timing and accessibility in care delivery need clarification, especially for caregivers of people living with dementia. Regular skill assessment and culturally competent care are essential. Before providing the service, provider training may also promote person-centered care, benefiting patients and their caregivers. ConclusionActivating CPT codes for caregiving training services may enhance caregivers' support and skills, including dementia care. 

   more » « less
3. Opportunities and Challenges for Augmented Reality in Family Caregiving: Qualitative Video Elicitation Study

   https://doi.org/10.2196/56916  

   Albright, Liam; Ko, Woojin; Buvanesh, Meyhaa; Haraldsson, Harald; Polubriaginof, Fernanda; Kuperman, Gilad J; Levy, Michelle; Sterling, Madeline R; Dell, Nicola; Estrin, Deborah (January 2024, JMIR Formative Research)

   BackgroundAlthough family caregivers play a critical role in care delivery, research has shown that they face significant physical, emotional, and informational challenges. One promising avenue to address some of caregivers’ unmet needs is via the design of digital technologies that support caregivers’ complex portfolio of responsibilities. Augmented reality (AR) applications, specifically, offer new affordances to aid caregivers as they perform care tasks in the home. ObjectiveThis study explored how AR might assist family caregivers with the delivery of home-based cancer care. The specific objectives were to shed light on challenges caregivers face where AR might help, investigate opportunities for AR to support caregivers, and understand the risks of AR exacerbating caregiver burdens. MethodsWe conducted a qualitative video elicitation study with clinicians and caregivers. We created 3 video elicitations that offer ways in which AR might support caregivers as they perform often high-stakes, unfamiliar, and anxiety-inducing tasks in postsurgical cancer care: wound care, drain care, and rehabilitative exercise. The elicitations show functional AR applications built using Unity Technologies software and Microsoft Hololens2. Using elicitations enabled us to avoid rediscovering known usability issues with current AR technologies, allowing us to focus on high-level, substantive feedback on potential future roles for AR in caregiving. Moreover, it enabled nonintrusive exploration of the inherently sensitive in-home cancer care context. ResultsWe recruited 22 participants for our study: 15 clinicians (eg, oncologists and nurses) and 7 family caregivers. Our findings shed light on clinicians’ and caregivers’ perceptions of current information and communication challenges caregivers face as they perform important physical care tasks as part of cancer treatment plans. Most significant was the need to provide better and ongoing support for execution of caregiving tasks in situ, when and where the tasks need to be performed. Such support needs to be tailored to the specific needs of the patient, to the stress-impaired capacities of the caregiver, and to the time-constrained communication availability of clinicians. We uncover opportunities for AR technologies to potentially increase caregiver confidence and reduce anxiety by supporting the capture and review of images and videos and by improving communication with clinicians. However, our findings also suggest ways in which, if not deployed carefully, AR technologies might exacerbate caregivers’ already significant burdens. ConclusionsThese findings can inform both the design of future AR devices, software, and applications and the design of caregiver support interventions based on already available technology and processes. Our study suggests that AR technologies and the affordances they provide (eg, tailored support, enhanced monitoring and task accuracy, and improved communications) should be considered as a part of an integrated care journey involving multiple stakeholders, changing information needs, and different communication channels that blend in-person and internet-based synchronous and asynchronous care, illness, and recovery. 

   more » « less
4. Conceptualizing caregiver workload: an exploratory study guided by NASA TLX

   https://doi.org/10.1177/1071181319631245  

   Rutkowski, R.A.; Ponnala, S.; Gonzalez-Vargas, J.; Gilmore-Bykovskyi, A.; Block, L.; Kind, A.J.; Werner, N.E. (November 2019, Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting)

   Persons with dementia (PwD) are heavily dependent on the support of informal, dementia caregivers to fulfill their day-to-day care needs. Dementia caregivers, often friends and family members of the PwD, are unpaid, non-professional individuals who take on many of the care responsibilities. Due to the lack of formal training, social support, and information resources, among other factors, dementia caregivers are often at risk for negative outcomes such as stress and burden. There have not been any comprehensive assessment tools to predict these negative outcomes. Therefore, we employ the NASA TLX dimensions to conceptualize caregiver workload. This study operationalizes the NASA TLX dimensions in the context of dementia caregiving and illustrates examples for each of the dimensions. The results indicate that the NASA TLX does not include all of the factors necessary to conceptualize caregiver workload and prescribe a need for developing a robust caregiver workload assessment tool. 

   more » « less
5. A Personalized Voice-Based Diet Assistant for Caregivers of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementias: System Development and Validation

   https://doi.org/10.2196/19897  

   Li, Juan; Maharjan, Bikesh; Xie, Bo; Tao, Cui (January 2020, Journal of Medical Internet Research)

   null (Ed.)

   Background The world’s aging population is increasing, with an expected increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD). Proper nutrition and good eating behavior show promise for preventing and slowing the progression of ADRD and consequently improving patients with ADRD’s health status and quality of life. Most ADRD care is provided by informal caregivers, so assisting caregivers to manage patients with ADRD’s diet is important. Objective This study aims to design, develop, and test an artificial intelligence–powered voice assistant to help informal caregivers manage the daily diet of patients with ADRD and learn food and nutrition-related knowledge. Methods The voice assistant is being implemented in several steps: construction of a comprehensive knowledge base with ontologies that define ADRD diet care and user profiles, and is extended with external knowledge graphs; management of conversation between users and the voice assistant; personalized ADRD diet services provided through a semantics-based knowledge graph search and reasoning engine; and system evaluation in use cases with additional qualitative evaluations. Results A prototype voice assistant was evaluated in the lab using various use cases. Preliminary qualitative test results demonstrate reasonable rates of dialogue success and recommendation correctness. Conclusions The voice assistant provides a natural, interactive interface for users, and it does not require the user to have a technical background, which may facilitate senior caregivers’ use in their daily care tasks. This study suggests the feasibility of using the intelligent voice assistant to help caregivers manage patients with ADRD’s diet. 

   more » « less