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| Systematic review of the effects of telecare provided for a person with social care needs on outcomes for their informal carers | | Author(s) | Anna Davies, Lorna Rixon, Stanton Newman |
| Journal title | Health and Social Care in the Community, vol 21, no 6, November 2013 |
| Publisher | Wiley Blackwell, November 2013 |
| Pages | pp 582-597 |
| Source | wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hsc |
| Keywords | Assistive technology ; Needs [elderly] ; Informal care ; Stress ; Well being ; Quality of life ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | Telecare devices have been put forward as a potentially effective intervention to informal carers' well-being and functioning that would reduce the negative effects of providing care to a family member or friend. This systematic review aimed to document and evaluate the quantitative evidence base for the effect of telecare interventions on outcomes for informal carers of people with social care needs. A systematic search was conducted between October 2009 and January 2010 to identify peer-reviewed and 'grey' intervention evaluations; electronic databases and expert/interested party recommendations were included. Clear inclusion and exclusion criteria and a reliable screening process were applied to select papers for inclusion in the review, and a checklist was used to assess risk of bias for each evaluation. Of 1071 identified evaluations, seven fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of these, two were peer-reviewed, and the remainder were unpublished or internal reports. Included evaluations were heterogeneous; they had investigated diverse technologies and outcomes, and had used varied evaluation designs and measures. All included evaluations were rated as being of weak methodological quality, indicating risk of bias within the evidence base. The evidence tentatively indicated that telecare exerts a positive effect on carer stress and strain, but there is no evidence to indicate benefits on burden or quality of life. The evidence is conflicting about the effect of telecare on the amount of time carers spend on their caring duties, and on relationships between the carer, cared-for person and other family members. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-131025202 A |
| Classmark | M: IK: P6: QNH: D:F:5HH: F:59: 64A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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