Pandemic and Family Caregiving in Rural Areas. Reflections After a Participatory Digital Health Intervention in Valle Camonica

Titolo Rivista SALUTE E SOCIETÀ
Autori/Curatori Niccolò Morelli
Anno di pubblicazione 2022 Fascicolo 2022/1
Lingua Inglese Numero pagine 15 P. 113-127 Dimensione file 220 KB
DOI 10.3280/SES2022-001008
Il DOI è il codice a barre della proprietà intellettuale: per saperne di più clicca qui

Qui sotto puoi vedere in anteprima la prima pagina di questo articolo.

Se questo articolo ti interessa, lo puoi acquistare (e scaricare in formato pdf) seguendo le facili indicazioni per acquistare il download credit. Acquista Download Credits per scaricare questo Articolo in formato PDF

Anteprima articolo

FrancoAngeli è membro della Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA)associazione indipendente e non profit per facilitare (attraverso i servizi tecnologici implementati da CrossRef.org) l’accesso degli studiosi ai contenuti digitali nelle pubblicazioni professionali e scientifiche

The current pandemic has resulted in the withdrawal of all social and health services not aimed at combatting COVID-19. This has led to a weakening of care services for family caregivers, especially in remote areas. Moreover, the pandemic has revealed all the frailties of a socio-health system that rarely involves caregivers in the co-design of services. However, in recent years, there has been a debate about the importance of promoting participatory interventions to support carers. Digital health (DH) intervention has been suggested as a successful tool to as-sist remote carers and engage them. This article reflects on the outcomes of a participatory DH intervention in Valle Camonica for family caregivers. The results indicated how DH could be a valid solution to train caregivers safely and effectively, but also how these interventions could not be considered as a panacea for all the weaknesses of health and social services. Mutual psychological support and community belonging among caregivers are not optimal in a remote connection dimension. This article contributes to the literature on the engagement of caregivers in the co-design of care interventions, with particular attention to DH, by pointing out by pointing out certain aspects that need to be considered in the implementation amongst a fragile population in a rural setting.

Keywords:Digital Health; Covid 19; family caregiver; rural areas; engagement; intervention.

  1. Bashshur R.L., Shannon G.W., Smith B. R., et al. (2014). The empirical foundations of telemedicine interventions for chronic disease management. Telemed J E Health, 20(9): 769–800.
  2. Biorcio R., Vitale T. (2016). Italia civile: associazionismo. partecipazione e politica. Roma, Donzelli.
  3. Blusi M., Dalin R., Jong, M. (2014). The benefits of e-health support for older family caregivers in rural areas. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 20(2): 63–69. DOI: 10.1177/1357633X1351990
  4. Bouldin E.D., Shaull L., Andresen E.M., Edwards V.J., McGuire L.C. (2018). Financial and Health Barriers and Caregiving‐Related Difficulties Among Rural and Urban Caregivers. The Journal of Rural Health, 34(3): 263–274.
  5. Cameron J.I., Wittenberg E., Prosser, L.A. (2016). Caregivers and Families of Critically Ill Patients. The New England Journal of Medicine, 375(10): 1001–1001.
  6. Davey J. (2006). Ageing in Place’: The Views of Older Homeowners on Maintenance, Renovation and Adaptation. Soc Policy J New Zeal 27: 128-141.
  7. Del-Pino-Casado R., Frías-Osuna, A., Palomino-Moral, P.A. (2011). Subjective Burden and Cultural Motives for Caregiving in Informal Caregivers of Older People. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 43: 282-291.
  8. Forducey P.G., Glueckauf R.L., Bergquist T.F., Maheu M.M., Yutsis M. (2012). Telehealth for persons with severe functional disabilities and their caregivers: Facilitating self-care management in the home setting. Psychological Services, 9(2): 144-162.
  9. Gogia S. (Ed.). (2019). Fundamentals of Telemedicine and Telehealth. London, Academic Press.
  10. Graffigna G., Barello S. (2018). Engagement: Un nuovo modello di partecipazione in sanità. Roma: Pensiero Scientifico.
  11. Graffigna G., Barello S., Morelli N., Gheduzzi E. et al. (2020). Place4Carers: A mixed-method study protocol for engaging family caregivers in meaningful actions for successful ageing in place. BMJ Open, 10(8): e037570.
  12. Mayan M. J. (2016). Essentials of qualitative inquiry. New York: Routledge.
  13. Morelli N., Barello S., Mayan M., Graffigna G. (2019). Supporting family caregiver engagement in the care of old persons living in hard to reach communities: A scoping review. Health & Social Care in the Community, 27(6): 1363–1374.
  14. Ong H.L., Vaingankar J.A., Abdin E., Sambasivam R., et al. (2018). Resilience and burden in caregivers of older adults: Moderating and mediating effects of perceived social support. BMC Psychiatry, 18(1): 1–9.
  15. Perry T.T., Halterman J.S., Brown R.H., Luo C., Randle S.M., Hunter C.R., Rettiganti M. (2018). Results of an asthma education program delivered via telemedicine in rural schools. Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 120(4): 401–408.
  16. Ramirez M., Duran M.C., Pabiniak C.J., Hansen K.E. et al. (2021). Family Caregiver Needs and Preferences for Virtual Training to Manage Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia: Interview Study. JMIR Aging, 4(1): e24965. DOI: 10.2196/2496
  17. Rodríguez-Rodríguez V., Sánchez-González D., a cura di (2016). Environmental Gerontology in Europe and Latin America. Berlino: Springer.
  18. Tarberg A.S., Kvangarsnes M., Hole T., Thronæs M., Madssen T.S., Landstad, B.J. (2019). Silent voices: Family caregivers’ narratives of involvement in palliative care. Nursing Open, 6(4): 1446–1454.
  19. Wakefield B.J., Holman J.E., Ray A., Scherubel M., Adams M.R., Hills S.L., Rosenthal G.E. (2012). Outcomes of a home telehealth intervention for patients with diabetes and hypertension. Telemedicine and E-Health, 18(8): 575–579.
  20. Wallack E.M., Harris C., Ploughman M., Butler R. (2018). Telegerontology as a novel approach to address health and safety by supporting community-based rural dementia care triads: Randomized controlled trial protocol. JMIR Research Protocols, 7(2): e56.
  21. Whitten P.S., Mair F.S., Haycox A., May C.R., Williams T.L., Hellmich, S. (2002). Systematic review of cost effectiveness studies of telemedicine interventions. Bmj, 324(7351): 1434-1437.r
  22. Wolff J.L., Spillman B.C., Freedman V.A., Kasper J.D. (2016). A national profile of family and unpaid caregivers who assist older adults with health care activities. JAMA Internal Medicine, 176(3): 372–379.
  23. Wootton, R. (1998). Telemedicine in the national health service. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 91(12): 614–621. DOI: 10.1177/01410768980910120
  24. World Health Organization - WHO (2019). WHO guideline: recommendations on digital interventions for health system strengthening. Geneva: World Health Organization.
  25. Xiong C., Sixsmith A., Astell A.J., Liu L., Mihailidis A., Colantonio A. (2017). Technology Perceptions Among Chinese Family Caregivers of Persons with Dementia: A Sex-Gender Lens. Innovation in Aging, 1(1): 785-785.

Niccolò Morelli, Pandemic and Family Caregiving in Rural Areas. Reflections After a Participatory Digital Health Intervention in Valle Camonica in "SALUTE E SOCIETÀ" 1/2022, pp 113-127, DOI: 10.3280/SES2022-001008