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BackgroundThe Internet-of-Things (IoT) technologies can create smart residences that integrate technology within the home to enhance residents’ safety as well as monitor their health and wellness. However, there has been little research on real-world testing of IoT smart home devices with older adults, and the feasibility and acceptance of such tools have not been systematically examined. ObjectiveThis study aims to conduct a pilot study to investigate the feasibility of using IoT smart home devices in the actual residences of older adults to facilitate healthy aging. MethodsWe conducted a 2-month feasibility study on community-dwelling older adults. Participants chose among different IoT devices to be installed and deployed within their homes. The IoT devices tested varied depending on the participant’s preference: a door and window sensor, a multipurpose sensor (motion, temperature, luminosity, and humidity), a voice-operated smart speaker, and an internet protocol (IP) video camera. ResultsWe recruited a total of 37 older adults for this study, with 35 (95%) successfully completing all procedures in the 2-month study. The average age of the sample was 78 (SD 9) years and primarily comprised women (29/37, 78%), those who were educated (31/37, 86%; bachelor’s degree or higher), and those affected by chronic conditions (33/37, 89%). The most widely chosen devices among the participants were multipurpose sensors and smart speakers. An IP camera was a significantly unpopular choice among participants in both phases. The participant feedback suggests that perceived privacy concerns, perceived usefulness, and curiosity to technology were strong factors when considering which device to have installed in their home. ConclusionsOverall, our deployment results revealed that the use of IoT smart home devices is feasible in actual residences of older adults. These findings may inform the follow-up assessment of IoT technologies and their impact on health-related outcomes and advance our understanding of the role of IoT home-based monitoring technologies to promote successful aging-in-place for older adults. Future trials should consider older adults’ preferences for the different types of smart home devices to be installed in real-world residential settings.

BackgroundTelehealth care is increasingly being employed in the management of long-term illness. Current systems are largely managed via “stand-alone” websites, which require additional log-ons for clinicians to view their patients’ symptom records and physiological measurements leading to frustrating delays and sometimes failure to engage with the record. However, there are challenges to the full integration of patient-acquired data into family physicians’ electronic medical records (EMR) in terms of reliability, how such data can best be summarized and presented to avoid overload to the clinicians, and how clarity of responsibility is managed when multiple agencies are involved. ObjectiveWe aimed to explore the views of primary care clinicians on the acceptability, clinical utility, and, in particular, the benefits and risks of integrating patient-generated telehealth care data into the family practice EMR and to explore how these data should be summarized and presented in order to facilitate use in routine care. MethodsIn our qualitative study, we carried out semi-structured interviews with clinicians with experience of and naïve to telehealth care following demonstration of pilot software, which illustrated various methods by which data could be incorporated into the EMR. ResultsWe interviewed 20 clinicians and found 2 overarching themes of “workload” and “safety”. Although clinicians were largely positive about integrating telehealth care data into the EMR, they were concerned about the potential increased workload and safety issues, particularly in respect to error due to data overload. They suggested these issues could be mitigated by good system design that summarized and presented data such that they facilitated seamless integration with clinicians’ current routine processes for managing data flows, and ensured clear lines of communication and responsibility between multiple professionals involved in patients’ care. ConclusionsFamily physicians and their teams are likely to be receptive to and see the benefits of integrating telehealth-generated data into the EMR. Our study identified some of the key challenges that must be overcome to facilitate integration of telehealth care data. This work particularly underlines the importance of actively engaging with clinicians to ensure that systems are designed that align well with existing practice data-flow management systems and facilitate safe multiprofessional patient care.

Objectives: Family members and close friends provide countless hours of care for patients enrolled in hospice care. They do so without pay, often sacrificing their own financial well-being and health in the process. This study asks 4 research questions: (1) What is the prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms among caregivers of hospice cancer patients? (2) What demographic and contextual factors (such as relationship with patient) are related to the severity of depressive symptoms among caregivers of hospice cancer patients? (3) Are caregiver quality of life and caregiver burden associated with depressive symptoms? and (4) Is baseline depression associated with change in depression over time? Methods: This was a secondary analysis of data collected in a cluster randomized controlled trial. Results: Thirty-five percent of caregivers reported depressive symptoms of moderate or greater severity. These depressive symptoms were found to increase depending on the relationship of the caregiver to the patient. Caregivers with higher reported burden and lower reported quality of life were also found to have higher depressive symptoms. Significance of Results: Hospice agencies are encouraged to assess caregiver depressive symptoms and have protocols in place to assist caregivers with high depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Assessing and managing hospice patients' pain is a common source of anxiety among hospice family caregivers (HFCGs), especially caregivers in rural communities who face special challenges including distance, limited access, and concerns about opioid misuse. Objective: To pilot test Ready2Care, a pain management education intervention for rural HFCGs. We sought to determine whether there was a signal of benefit for clinically-relevant outcomes and to identify contextual factors pertinent to conducting a future randomized clinical trial of Ready2Care. Methods: We conducted a multi-method, single-arm study, enabling completion of paired t-tests comparing pre- and post-intervention measures of caregiver anxiety, pain management self-efficacy, barriers to pain management, and reports of patient pain intensity and corresponding patient and caregiver distress. We concurrently conducted an embedded implementation evaluation via calculation of descriptive statistics (recruitment and retention data) and directed content analysis of brief caregiver interviews. Results: Twenty-seven (n = 27) HFCGs participated; 15 completed the study. Among completers, significant improvement was observed in patient pain intensity (average 1.4 points decrease on 0-10 scale) and in overall pain experience. No statistically significant changes were detected in caregiver anxiety, barriers to pain management, or pain management self-efficacy. Facilitators to successful conduct of a future clinical trial included high acceptability of Ready2Care, driven by its perceived clarity and relevance to caregivers' concerns. Barriers included lower-than-anticipated accrual and an attrition rate of nearly 44%. Conclusion: A multisite clinical trial of Ready2Care is warranted; however, its success may require more effective recruitment and retention strategies for rural caregiver participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To synthesize interventions designed to enhance resilience in family caregivers (FCs). Methods: Electronic databases including PubMed, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Scopus, were searched using index and keyword methods for articles published before January 2020. The review process followed the PRISMA review guidelines. Study quality was assessed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Results: Six studies (seven articles) were included in this review. Quantitative evidence supports the benefits of psychoeducation, mindfulness-based intervention, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based intervention but not expressive writing in improving in FCs' resilience. Four of the six included studies were randomized controlled trials. All included studies only met 40% to 60% of the MMAT criteria, indicating low to moderate levels of study quality. Conclusion: This review showed emerging evidence that psychoeducation, mindfulness-based intervention, and CBT-based intervention may improve caregiver resilience. However, it remains unclear which intervention and what dosage is the most effective in promoting FCs' resilience. Due to the small number of relevant studies and a low-to-moderate level of overall study quality, more rigorous clinical trials are needed to strengthen the current limited evidence base for FC resilience interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Social well-being of older adults living in low-income housing was disproportionately affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. We explored low-income residents' experiences of social isolation and loneliness and strategies to remain socially connected during the pandemic. Research Design and Methods As part of a larger, 3-phase user-centered design study, we conducted a qualitative study using focus groups to gain insights into social isolation experiences and the role of information and communication technologies (ICTs), including smart speakers, in social connectedness (N  = 25, 76% African American). We also collected survey data to describe social isolation, loneliness, and current ICT use in the sample. Participants included both smart speaker users and nonusers. Results Experiences of social isolation and loneliness varied by participants' sociodemographic characteristics and previous experiences with smart speakers. Qualitative analysis showed participants demonstrated coping strategies developed during the pandemic to adapt to new norms of connecting with others, including technology-enabled social interactions. Participants expressed a strong desire to build community together in their facilities and highlighted the potential role of smart speakers in making meaningful social connections, encompassing safety checks to have a means for emergencies, and providing a virtual companion. Access, digital literacy, training, security, and privacy issues were discussed as factors affecting their adoption of new ICT for enhanced social connectedness. Discussion and Implications This study highlights the importance of understanding the unique social isolation experience, demographics, and social determinants of health of low-income residents to develop ICT-based interventions for social connectedness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The burden of caregiving for family members is significant and becomes particularly challenging at end of life, with negative effects on mental health, including anxiety and depression. Research has shown caregivers need better communication with their health care team. Objectives: To evaluate the relationship between hospice team communication with caregivers and caregiver involvement in care. Methods: The purpose of this secondary analysis of data collected from a U.S.-based cluster crossover randomized trial was to evaluate whether caregiver-centered communication (Caregiver-Centered Communication Questionnaire) is associated with a caregiver's perceptions of involvement in care (Perceived Involved in Care Scale). A block-wise approach was used to estimate linear models, which were created using total scores and subscale scores. Results: Caregiver-centered communication was positively associated with perceptions of involvement in care. Conclusion: Skilled communication between hospice clinicians and family caregivers is critical in helping family members perception they are involved in the care of their loved one. There could be similar benefit in caregiver-centered communication during cancer treatment as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives:This review aimed to assess characteristics of telehealth in pain management for adult patients with chronic pain and their family care partners and review current evidence of the effectiveness of telehealth for pain management. Based on the Revised Symptom Management model, this review identified types of chronic pain management strategies and symptom management outcomes delivered by telehealth. Methods:We conducted a systematic review of four electronic databases, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, and Embase, using combinations of keywords, including "telehealth," "caregivers," and "pain." Only interventions delivered online, including websites, mobile applications, phone calls, and videoconferencing, were included. To accurately characterize the features of each telehealth pain intervention, we employed a standardized checklist. Additionally, a summary table of the evidence was created. Results:We analyzed 17 studies that met the inclusion criteria, of which 14 were randomized controlled trials, 1 was a cohort study, and 2 were qualitative cohort studies. We grouped interventions based on content of the intervention for pain management (education, psychotherapy, reporting and consultation, and multicomponent intervention). The quality rating of studies was mostly moderately strong. Findings of interventions' effectiveness were showing heterogenous effects on variables, possibly due to different pain measurements and varying follow-up times. Significance of Results:Telehealth interventions can potentially increase access to care for patients with chronic pain and their families in a limited resource area. Telehealth technology is a feasible tool that may enhance clinicians' pain management efforts for patients with chronic pain and their family care partners. The results of this review can be used to guide telehealth pain assessment and evaluation for care partners, clinicians, and researchers and inform the design of future telehealth systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Poor adherence to tuberculosis (TB) treatment leads to further disease transmission, worsened outcomes, and the development of drug resistance. Digital adherence technologies may facilitate a more patient-centered approach for improving TB treatment outcomes than current strategies. The objective of this study was to evaluate and explore improving usability of the TB Treatment Support Tools (TB-TST) mobile application. We used an iterative convergent mixed-method design consisting of two quantitative surveys and a qualitative think-aloud interview. Testing was conducted in three testing cycles consisting of a total of 16 interviews and 26 surveys. Results were thematically analyzed and reported to the development team during weekly team meetings. Participants rated the TB-TSTs application as having high usability and the iterative approach resulted in several refinements to the application in response to participant feedback. These refinements were well received during qualitative interviews but did not result in a statistically significant improvement in usability testing scores between cycles. Using an iterative convergent mixed-method design was an effective method for refining our mHealth application. Data collected from think-aloud interviews, the MAUQ, and the Health-ITUES identified key areas of application design that needed refinement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]