JMIR Aging

As Alzheimer disease (AD) and AD-related dementias (ADRD) progress, individuals increasingly require assistance from unpaid, informal caregivers to support them in activities of daily living. These caregivers may experience high levels of financial, mental, and physical strain associated with providing care. CareVirtue is a web-based tool created to connect and support multiple individuals across a care network to coordinate care activities and share important information, thereby reducing care burden.

There are numerous communication barriers between family caregivers and providers of people living with dementia (PLWD), which can pose challenges to caregiving and clinical decision making. To address these barriers, a new web and mobile-enabled app, called CareHeroes, was developed to promote the collection and secured sharing of clinical information between caregivers and providers. It also provides caregiver support and education.

To diagnose Alzheimer disease (AD), individuals are classified according to the severity of their cognitive impairment. There are currently no specific causes or conditions for this disease.

Web-based advance care planning (ACP) interventions offer a promising solution to improve ACP engagement, but none are specifically designed to meet the needs of patients with heart failure and their caregivers.

Geriatric co-management has been shown to improve outcomes of older surgical inpatients. Furthermore, the choice of discharge location, i.e. continuity of care (COC), can have a fundamental impact on convalescence. These challenges and demands have led to the SURGE-Ahead project which aims to develop a clinical decision support system (CDSS) for geriatric co-management in surgical clinics including a decision support for the best COC option, supported by artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

Previous studies have explored how sensor technologies can assist in in the detection, recognition, and prevention of subjective loneliness. These studies have shown a correlation between physiological and behavioral sensor data and the experience of loneliness. However, little research has been conducted on the design requirements from the perspective of older people and stakeholders in technology development. The use of these technologies and infrastructural questions have been insufficiently addressed. Systems generally consist of sensors or software installed in smartphones or homes. However, no studies have attempted to use smart textiles, which are fabrics with integrated electronics.

Family and unpaid caregivers play a crucial role in supporting people living with dementia (PLWD), yet they are not systematically identified and documented by health systems.

The demand for support among people with dementia (PWD) is increasing with a diminishing capacity for providing care. As the trend of ageing at home continues, technologies can help maintain PWD's autonomy, enabling them to live independently for as long as possible. Furthermore, digital applications can have numerous positive biopsychosocial effects on the health of PWD, including physical, cognitive, and social functions.

In 2022, the US Department of Health and Human Services released the first National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers, identifying actions for both government and the private sector. One of the major goals is to expand data, research, and evidence-based practices to support family caregivers. While IT tools are widely deployed in health care settings, they are rarely available at scale in community agencies. In 2019, the state of California recognized the importance of a statewide database and a platform to serve caregivers remotely by enhancing existing service supports and investing in a web-based platform, CareNav. Implementation commenced in early 2020 across all 11 California Caregiver Resource Centers.

A number of studies document the benefits of face-to-face social interactions for cognitive functioning among middle-aged and older adults. Social activities in virtual worlds may confer similar if not enhanced cognitive benefits as face-to-face social activities, given that virtual interactions require the additional cognitive tasks of learning and navigating communicative tools and technology platforms. Yet, few studies have examined whether social activities in online settings may have synergistic effects on cognitive functioning beyond those of face-to-face interactions.

Older veterans with anxiety disorders encounter multiple barriers to receiving mental health services, including transportation difficulties, physical limitations, and limited access to providers trained to work with older persons. To address both accessibility and the shortage of available providers, evidence-based treatments that can be delivered via guided self-management modalities are a potential solution.

In the United States, over 60% of adults aged 65 years or older have multiple chronic health conditions, with consequences that include reduced quality of life, increasingly complex but less person-centered treatment, and higher health care costs. A previous trial of ElderTree, an eHealth intervention for older adults, found socioemotional benefits for those with high rates of primary care use.