2023 Advancing Research on Care and Outcome Measurements (ARCOM)
Developing a digital signature of care-related activities and burden.
Can home-based technology be used to measure burden for dementia caregivers?
Neil William Douglas Thomas, M.D.
Bruyère Research Institute
Ottawa, Canada
Background
As the cost of paid healthcare for individuals living with dementia increases, family and other informal caregivers continue to play an important role in the dementia system. Studies have shown that dementia can present several challenges for family caregivers, often reducing their physical and emotional health which, in turn, may affect the quality of their caregiving. Interventions designed to reduce caregiver stress have shown some benefit. However, there are currently limited tools available to measure the physical and emotional burden that caregivers face daily.
Research Plan
Dr. Neil Thomas and colleagues will use home-based sensor devices to measure caregiver burden in a home setting. They will do this by recruiting caregivers living with one individual with cognitive impairment or dementia. Sensor devices will be used to measure movement throughout the home, sleep amount and quality, and daily activity levels. Additionally, participants will also complete weekly mood and behavioral evaluations. The researchers will then use computer-based algorithms to identify which sensory devices provide the most insight to measure caregiver burden in a home setting. Lastly, the team will interview the study participants about the potential impact and usefulness of the new measure for caregivers.
Impact
This project could shed new light on how home-based technologies can be used to measure burden for caregivers of individuals living with dementia. It could also lead to future tools to improve quality of life for dementia caregivers.
The ARCOM Grant Program was developed jointly with Leveraging an Interdisciplinary Consortium to Improve Care and Outcomes for Persons Living With Alzheimer’s and Dementia (LINC-AD). The funding partners for this initiative are the Brain Canada Foundation through the Canada Brain Research Fund, an innovative partnership between the government of Canada (through Health Canada) and Brain Canada and the Alzheimer’s Association.