[Providing knowledge and support for caring relatives with the smartphone - the MoCaB project]

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Digital Health
• Gerontology

Background:

• Family caregivers frequently lack knowledge regarding illness and care options, leading to a perceived burden.
• Surveys within the Mobile Care Backup (MoCaB) project highlight the challenges faced by informal caregivers.
• The need for accessible and tailored support for individuals providing care at home is evident.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the knowledge base of family caregivers through a mobile application.
• To provide personalized, need-based information and self-care instructions for caregivers.
• To reduce the burden experienced by informal caregivers by empowering them with information.

Main Methods:

• Development of a mobile application (MoCaB) featuring personalized knowledge transfer in a dialogue format.
• A participatory design process involving potential users to ensure relevance and usability.
• Expert review and formulation of evidence-based nursing knowledge tailored for caregivers.

Main Results:

• Identification and formulation of 86 relevant caregiving topics.
• Positive reception of the app's content, language, and presentation in initial usability tests.
• Demonstrated potential for improved caregiver knowledge and reduced burden.

Conclusions:

• The MoCaB mobile application shows promise in delivering tailored, evidence-based knowledge to family caregivers.
• User feedback from initial tests supports the app's design and content for effective knowledge transfer.
• Further in-home testing is planned to refine the app and assess its real-world impact on caregivers.