Abstract
Informal caregivers are a significant resource when elderly people need assistance and support to remain living at home. Today, state-of-the-art technology provides the possibilities of applying ways to ease the workload and make it possible to stay at home instead of living in an institutional care setting, such as hospitals or special sheltered accommodations. The current study analysed how information and communication technology (ICT) could support healthcare in Chinese homes from the perspectives of informal caregivers and healthcare professionals. The study focused on elderly people who benefit from caregiving or need personal assistance to help them live at home. A mapping study was conducted to identify existing ICT solutions, and qualitative semi-structured interviews were performed to obtain the perspectives of informal caregivers and professionals. The contributions were identified as objectives of using ICT solutions, relatives’ feedback on ICT solutions, opinions about popular ICT solutions and thoughts about future ICT solutions. The empirical study revealed that alarming, communication, monitoring, positioning and assistance are the most important reasons to acquire and apply ICT-based support for elderly people living at home.
Recommended Citation
Liu, Zihao; Halonen, Raija; and Ahmad, Muhammad Ovais, "ICT SUPPORTING HEALTHCARE FOR CHINESE ELDERLY AT HOME: PERSPECTIVES OF INFORMAL CAREGIVERS AND PROFESSIONALS" (2019). MCIS 2019 Proceedings. 37.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/mcis2019/37