Abstract
Stress is prevalent among older informal carers and has been shown to lead to negative developments in physical and psychological health, as well as overall wellbeing. One area of wellbeing that can be impacted is sleep, with high stress levels leading to poor sleep and poor sleep causing stress. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have grown in popularity in recent years and have been shown to reduce stress and increase quality of life among older informal carers. MBIs delivered digitally have the potential to be used by and be of benefit to a wide group of people. Based on the apparent gaps in the literature concerning the area of mobile device/computer-mediated MBIs for older informal carers, further research is needed in this area. An opportunity also lies in the use of wearable activity trackers to monitor any potential improvements in sleep, due to reduced stress. This paper focuses on the design of a digital application delivering MBIs, to support older informal carers to manage stress and sleep. We describe a qualitative study with older informal carers and the resulting digital application while outlining how this system will be trialled with 15 older informal carers over a 12-week period with a view to reducing stress and improving overall wellbeing.
Highlights
IntroductionAcross the world we are experiencing an increase in the number of older adults, as medical advances, improved diet, and better healthcare have resulted in increased life expectancies
Across the world we are experiencing an increase in the number of older adults, as medical advances, improved diet, and better healthcare have resulted in increased life expectancies. This increase will impact on health services, as it is expected there will be a shortage of healthcare workers to care for the ageing population
This paper provides an insight into the area of stress among informal carers and aims to make a contribution to the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) by providing an overview of the design of a digital application delivering Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs)
Summary
Across the world we are experiencing an increase in the number of older adults, as medical advances, improved diet, and better healthcare have resulted in increased life expectancies. This increase will impact on health services, as it is expected there will be a shortage of healthcare workers to care for the ageing population. Chen et al (2013) point out that caring for older adults is often highly demanding, leading to frustration and sometimes depression in the caregiver. Vaseliou et al (2017) present findings from a study exploring informal carers’ reflections on experiences of loneliness associated with the caregiving process. Sentiments of powerlessness, helplessness, and a sense of sole responsibility were expressed
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