Online interventions for caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The elderly population is growing driven by the increase in life expectancy, which in turn entails an increase in the number of people with chronic diseases such as dementia. The vast majority of people suffering from this illness is assisted by informal caregivers, who play a key role in fulfilling the patients’ needs, promoting the possibility for people with dementia to live in their home environment. The Internet as a support tool in psychoeducational programs can significantly improve accessibility of them, becoming a currently consolidated interactive resource for the training of patients with acute and chronic diseases, and their caregivers. POPULATION AND METHOD: A literature search of the Pubmed, PsyINFO, Scopus, SciELO and Psicodoc databases was performed to systematically review those studies related to web-based interventions for informal caregivers of people with dementia or cognitive impairment. RESULTS: On balance, the studies show a significant improvement after the psychoeducational intervention. Specifically, the improvement in caregivers’ wellbeing can be observed in the measures for self-efficacy, anxiety and depression. CONCLUSIONS: Online interventions are a promising strategy for the care of people with dementia. It would be advisable to perform further randomized trials to assess the reasons for lack of adherence to intervention, as well as usability studies to test the different software programs used.

Intervenciones online para cuidadores de personas con demencia: revisión sistemática / Online interventions for caregivers of people with dementia: a systematic review

Introducción. La población de edad avanzada está creciendo debido al aumento de la esperanza de vida, lo que lleva a un incremento de personas con enfermedades crónicas, como la demencia. La mayoría de la población que sufre esta enfermedad es atendida por cuidadores informales, quienes juegan un papel muy importante en el cumplimiento de las necesidades, favoreciendo que puedan seguir viviendo en su ambiente. Internet se presenta como una herramienta de apoyo a los programas de psicoeducación que mejore la accesibilidad de los mismos, estableciéndose, en la actualidad, como un recurso interactivo para la formación de pacientes con enfermedades agudas y crónicas así como a sus cuidadores. Población y método. Mediante una búsqueda bibliográfica en las bases de datos Pubmed, PsyINFO, Scopus, SciELO y Psicodoc, se revisaron sistemáticamente los estudios relativos a intervenciones basadas en internet para cuidadores informales de personas con demencia o deterioro cognitivo. Resultados. En conjunto, los estudios indican una mejoría significativa tras la intervención psicoeducativa. Concretamente, la mejora del bienestar de los cuidadores se aprecia en las medidas de autoeficacia, ansiedad y depresión. Conclusiones. Las intervenciones online constituyen una estrategia prometedora para la intervención de cuidadores de personas con demencia. Serían convenientes mayores estudios aleatorizados, que evalúen tanto los motivos de falta de adherencia a la intervención como estudios de usabilidad de los diversos programas de software empleados (AU)

Introduction. The elderly population is growing driven by the increase in life expectancy, which in turn entails an increase in the number of people with chronic diseases such as dementia. The vast majority of people suffering from this illness is assisted by informal caregivers, who play a key role in fulfilling the patients’ needs, promoting the possibility for people with dementia to live in their home environment. The Internet as a support tool in psychoeducational programs can significantly improve accessibility of them, becoming a currently consolidated interactive resource for the training of patients with acute and chronic diseases, and their caregivers. Population and method. A literature search of the Pubmed, PsyINFO, Scopus, SciELO and Psicodoc databases was performed to systematically review those studies related to web-based interventions for informal caregivers of people with dementia or cognitive impairment. Results. On balance, the studies show a significant improvement after the psychoeducational intervention. Specifically, the improvement in caregivers’ wellbeing can be observed in the measures for self-efficacy, anxiety and depression. Conclusions. Online interventions are a promising strategy for the care of people with dementia. It would be advisable to perform further randomized trials to assess the reasons for lack of adherence to intervention, as well as usability studies to test the different software programs used (AU)