Developing innovative interdisciplinary technological solutions for caregivers of older adults within Canada's technology and aging network

Abstract

Caregivers are critical to the health and support of older people with disabilities. Canada's technology and aging network, AGE-WELL (agewell-nce.ca), is dedicated to the creation of technologies and services that benefit older adults and caregivers. One important research theme within this network focuses on the development of novel technological solutions to address caregivers’ needs. This presentation reports on AGE-WELL activities that seek to gain insight as to how to support care providers of older adults with disabilities. We use a mixed methods approach to contribute to a growing body of knowledge about the complexity and diversity of caregivers’ lives and needs. Our inclusive research approach captures, and integrates a breadth of stakeholders and disciplines. An overview of 10 ongoing and completed projects with a balance between discovery and application-based research is provided. These range from surveying caregivers to better understand their needs and challenges, to developing online assistive technology rating and recommendation systems for caregivers. The projects consider different care recipient conditions (cognitive and physical limitations), caregiver needs (physical, social, emotional, and financial) and caregiver groups (paid work roles and family caregivers). The results also highlight shared tools and strategies used by the researchers all focusing on the needs of caregivers, to optimize resources and increase visibility; these include a repository of scientific paper citations and promotional videos. This presentation offers an example of collaborative research that seeks to develop a wide range of innovative technological solutions that can benefit both the lives of disabled older adults and their caregivers.