Remote Caring Guidelines: An innovative protocol for dementia caregivers

Abstract

AbstractVarious technological innovations have emerged which allow for remote caring of people with dementia by their informal caregivers. Lack of access and social isolation have negatively impacted people with dementia and caregivers experience intensification of stress and burden. Currently, there is no widely accepted dementia protocol on remote care for caregivers. A partnership of five European institutions which specialise in mental health and dementia is preparing a protocol based on non‐formal education (NFE) which aims at training caregivers to provide better support and enhanced care even when physical presence is not possible. The NFE is designed to educate the caregivers on five major topics; recognising the symptoms of dementia, dementia prevention, potential activities for early and advanced dementia aimed at improving social interaction and the mental/physical wellbeing of people with dementia and on how to create support groups. Three piloting activities involving a minimum of 75 participants, caregivers of people with dementia, and ten case studies of successful support groups will be conducted in order to assess and refine the NFE. It is expected that; the social interaction between people suffering from dementia and their caregivers will be improved by using innovative devices and will allow for enhanced caring and assistance conditions for caregivers and the stigma which surrounds people will be diminished through the creation of support groups and the extensive use of new technologies. These findings will have a strong impact on the provision of everyday dementia care from informal caregivers and may lead to a more future‐proof dementia care. Moreover, upon the successful implementation of the protocol in dementia caregivers, the protocol could be adapted to serve as a protocol for mental and physical health caregiving.