JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The growth in the number of elderly people in Indonesia since 2019 has contributed to an increase in dementia cases by 2.46%. This figure is expected to increase by 2.5 times by 2050, having a major impact on the elderly and increasing the burden on caregivers. The lack of systemic support and appropriate digital solutions suggests that digital solutions have the potential to support dementia survivors and caregivers.

Objective:

This study aims to identify the challenges and analyze the functional application requirements for home care dementia survivors and caregivers.

Methods:

We used a qualitative approach by interviewing five health workers, two non-governmental organization employees, and five dementia caregivers. Qualitative data analysis was carried out using content analysis.

Results:

The challenges obtained from this study are lack of education and awareness of the symptoms and treatment of dementia, stress and mental strain experienced by caregivers, and difficulties in monitoring the health and daily life of people with dementia, obstacles to access to health services and decreased cognitive function of dementia survivors. Functional application requirements for dementia home care consist of features such as dementia education, caregiver psychological assessment, quizzes/games, music playlists, community, medication reminders, and diaries. The aspect of ease of use and quality of information affects the acceptance of the application by dementia survivors and caregivers.

Conclusions:

The results of this study can help health application development organizations and health facilities in developing homecare applications for dementia.