Abstract

There is not only a lack of research that conceptualises the information needs of informal carers but also a shortage in research that addresses those needs from the perspective of information systems in the health care system. This shortage of systematic and conceptualised research on information needs of informal carers often prohibits the information providers and developers from knowing what types of information informal carers need to support their roles and tasks as carers and to evaluate how well they are fulfilling the information needs of informal carers. Drawing upon the previous available research on information needs in general and information needs of informal carers in particular, this paper proposes a conceptual model of the information needs of informal carers. The conceptual model illustrates four abstraction groups of information needs of informal carers i.e. recognised demanded, unrecognised demanded, recognised undemanded, and unrecognised undemanded. The paper highlights the potential usefulness of the model.

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