Care4AD: A Technology-Driven Platform for Care Coordination and Management: Acceptability Study in Dementia.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology and Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction in Healthcare

Background:

• Technology can reduce caregiver burden, but unique dementia caregiving needs and stakeholder attitudes toward technology adoption remain unclear.
• Assessing the acceptability and feasibility of technology-driven care coordination platforms is crucial for supporting dementia care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the Care4AD technology-driven platform for facilitating dementia care coordination.
• To understand end-user perspectives on adopting technology in dementia caregiving.

Main Methods:

• Developed Care4AD platform with app for caregivers, tablet for care recipients, and sensor tags for monitoring daily living activities.
• Interviewed 11 dementia care experts, 10 individuals with dementia (IWD), and 14 caregivers using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire.
• Assessed perceived ease of use, attitude towards use, perceived usefulness, technology anxiety, and data sharing concerns.

Main Results:

• Stakeholders demonstrated significantly high acceptance (70-100% satisfaction) for all Care4AD components (p < 0.05).
• For IWD, age was a significant predictor of attitude toward technology (r = -0.68, p = 0.03).
• For caregivers, perceived ease of use strongly predicted attitude toward technology (r = 0.73, p < 0.01); data sharing concerns were not limiting factors.

Conclusions:

• The Care4AD platform shows high perceived usefulness, ease of use, and positive attitude towards adoption among dementia care stakeholders.
• Primary barriers identified were the age of individuals with dementia and caregivers' perceived ease of use.
• Further research is needed to confirm Care4AD's effectiveness in reducing caregiver stress and enhancing quality of life for IWD.