Information needs in community aged care

This paper focuses on the information needs and behaviours of senior citizens and their carers in the community. Two case studies concerning elderly stroke patients and their carers are described and discussed. Analysis of the case study data reveals a number of themes including the actual information needs and information behaviours of the senior citizens, the importance of proxy information seekers and advocates and the need for usable, accessible and useful tool to support the needs of care recipients. A preliminary framework is developed that highlights important aspects of supporting the information needs of care recipients and carers in community aged care. Finally we suggest opportunities for technology interventions that address various information needs of senior citizens in the community.<br /

Health Information Technology and Caregiver Interaction: Building Healthy Ecosystems

This qualitative study explores the widely recognized role of the informal caregivers (ICGs) as key co-producers in the delivery of effective and sustainable healthcare systems. The central argument is that to enhance the quality of care in non-clinical settings and the healthcare ecosystem as a whole, developers of Health Information Technology (HIT) need to harness the knowledge and experiences of the ICGs to better align their products to practice. The paper has two aims: to improve the understandability of informal caregivers\u2019 role in non-traditional healthcare settings, and to identify and formulate valuable guidelines for the development of \u201cfit-for-use\u201d HIT solutions that acknowledge the needs of the ICGs