The CAREGIVERSPRO-MMD Platform as an Online Informational and Social Support Tool for People Living With Memory Problems and Their Carers: An Evaluation of User Engagement, Usability and Usefulness

Howe, David; Thorpe, Jonathan; Dunn, Rosie; White, Caroline; Cunnah, Kate; Platt, Rebecca; Paulson, Kevin; Wolverson, Emma

doi:10.1177/0733464819885326

Authors

Dr David Howe D.Howe@hull.ac.uk
Post-Doctoral Research Assistant

Jonathan Thorpe

Miss Rosie Dunn R.J.Dunn@hull.ac.uk
Research Assistant

Ms Caroline White C.White@hull.ac.uk
Research Associate

Kate Cunnah

Rebecca Platt

Kevin Paulson

Dr Emma Wolverson E.Wolverson@hull.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer Ageing and Dementia. Research Lead for Dementia UK.

Abstract

People living with dementia or cognitive impairment (PwD) and their carers often have unmet needs for informational and social support postdiagnosis. Web-based platforms have the potential to address these needs, although few have been developed for use by both PwD and carers. The CAREGIVERSPRO-MMD platform was developed to provide both user groups with informational and peer-to-peer social support. Platform logging data were analyzed to assess the extent to which PwD (n = 37) and carers (n = 37) engaged with the platform and its social/informational features in their daily lives. Participants also provided feedback on the usefulness and usability of the platform. The majority of PwD and carers found the platform and its social/informational features useful and usable, and significant subsets of both groups utilized the platform regularly. However, carers engaged with the informational and social features to a greater extent than PwD, and users highlighted that PwD typically required regular support to use the platform.

Citation

Howe, D., Thorpe, J., Dunn, R., White, C., Cunnah, K., Platt, R., …Wolverson, E. (2019). The CAREGIVERSPRO-MMD Platform as an Online Informational and Social Support Tool for People Living With Memory Problems and Their Carers: An Evaluation of User Engagement, Usability and Usefulness. Journal of applied gerontology, 39(12), 1303-1312. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464819885326

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Oct 8, 2019
Publication Date	Nov 6, 2019
Deposit Date	Jan 2, 2020
Publicly Available Date	Oct 27, 2022
Journal	Journal of Applied Gerontology
Print ISSN	0733-4648
Electronic ISSN	1552-4523
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	39
Issue	12
Pages	1303-1312
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464819885326
Keywords	Keywords dementia; caregiving; information technology; technology
Public URL	https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3168384