Supporting family care: a scoping app review

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Caregiver Support
• Mobile Health Applications

Background:

• Family caregivers of individuals with chronic conditions require accessible support and information.
• Existing mobile applications (apps) may offer these resources, but their effectiveness and user-centricity are not well understood.
• A comprehensive evaluation of current apps is necessary to identify gaps in meeting caregiver needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and evaluate existing mobile applications designed for family caregivers.
• To assess app relevance across key caregiving domains, personal caregiver needs, and specific caregiver demographics.
• To identify how well current apps align with established research on family caregiver requirements.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review methodology was employed.
• Searched major app stores (Google Play Store, iOS App Store) for English and German language apps.
• Included apps targeting family caregivers, extracting data from producer-provided descriptions.

Main Results:

• Most apps focus on assisting with caregiving activities, with limited customization for specific caregiver groups (e.g., young carers).
• Apps addressing personal caregiver needs, including health, finances, and work, were scarce.
• Commercial apps predominated, often linking to paid services, while non-profit apps, though highly rated and free, offered limited scope.

Conclusions:

• Current mobile applications for family caregivers inadequately address the diverse needs of specific caregiver populations.
• There is a significant gap in apps that cater to the personal well-being and unique challenges faced by family caregivers.
• Future app development should prioritize personalization and a broader scope of support for family caregivers.