Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Aging
Date Submitted: Jun 9, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Jun 26, 2025 - Aug 21, 2025
Date Accepted: Nov 3, 2025
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited.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.
Supporting dementia caregiving: Development and pilot of a mobile care ecosystem
ABSTRACT
Background:
Dementia presents significant challenges for informal caregivers. A gap remains in technology-driven personalized support tailored to caregivers' needs.
Objective:
To develop a theory-driven, multi-component mobile application specifically designed for caregivers of individuals with dementia, and test its usability among end users.
Methods:
We developed "CareBuddy," a mobile care ecosystem based on the Stress Process Model and user-centered design. The app includes personalized assessments and tailored solutions, an AI-driven chatbot, GPS-based location monitoring, peer support, a helpline, telemedicine, healthcare provider integration and caregiver self-care resources. Development was informed by interviews with caregivers and stakeholders, followed by two-phase pilot testing to assess usability and acceptability involving 18 and 10 participants respectively
Results:
In phase 1, the mean system usability scores (SUS) increased from 65.4 (S.D. 11.8) in round 1 to 77.5 (S.D. 7.2) in round 2, and 73.8 (S.D. 15.9) in round 3, with rounds 2 and 3 exceeding the benchmark SUS of 68. In phase 2, caregivers rated the app highly with mHealth app usability questionnaire (MAUQ) overall total mean score of 95.4 (SD 8.5). The domains of ease of use (mean 24.1; SD 2.9), user interface and satisfaction (mean 40.3; SD 3.4), and usefulness (mean 31; SD 3.9) received high MAUQ ratings. Participants valued the content focused on dementia management and caregiver well-being. Caregivers appreciated the interactive features -social networking portal, service directory, and conversational large language model. Feedback highlighted areas for improvement, including reducing textual overload and addressing navigational challenges.
Conclusions:
CareBuddy offers a multifaceted digital solution for dementia caregivers, with high usability and satisfaction. An ongoing trial is evaluating the app’s effectiveness in improving caregiver outcomes.
Citation
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