Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Mar 28, 2023
Date Accepted: Jun 1, 2023
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Designing and Evaluating IT Applications for Informal Caregivers: Protocol for a Scoping Review
ABSTRACT
Background:
A growing number of informal caregivers in many countries are important to the effective functioning of healthcare in our society. Hence, they must receive the required support and services to continue to provide care. It is known that IT applications can be used to support informal caregivers in their caregiving activities. However, evidence-informed guidelines for developing such IT applications and their usability evaluation are scarce.
Objective:
This study aims to conduct a scoping review of current practices and recommendations in designing and evaluating IT applications for informal caregivers.
Methods:
A 5-step scoping review methodology will be used to map relevant literature published as follows: (1) identify the research question, (2) identify relevant studies, (3) select relevant studies for review, (4) charted data from selected literature, and (5) summarized and reported results. A structured search will be conducted in PubMed, Scopus, IEEE digital library, Web of Science, and ACM Digital Library databases. In addition, hand searches of reference lists and keyword searches in Google Scholar will also be conducted. Inclusion criteria will include research articles (journal and conference) focused on IT applications designed for use by informal caregivers and study type to be qualitative studies. Two reviewers will independently identify articles for review and extract data. Conflicts will be discussed, and a third reviewer will be consulted if a consensus cannot be reached. This data will be analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results:
The results from this scoping review will be presented in a narrative form, and additional data on study characteristics will be presented in diagrams or tabular format. Uppsala University first initiated this scoping review protocol in December 2021 as part of the EU-funded project ENTWINE. The results will be presented in a scoping review in July 2023. The results will be disseminated through a dissemination report to the EU, and publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Conclusions:
This is, to our knowledge, the first study to map the literature on the design and evaluation of IT applications for informal caregivers. The findings from the scoping review will describe needs, design recommendations and preferences, and usability criteria and attributes of IT applications for informal caregivers. A mapping of studies could inform the design and implementation of future IT applications for informal caregivers.
Citation
