@Article{info:doi/10.2196/11051,
author="Shaffer, Kelly M
and Chow, Philip I
and Cohn, Wendy F
and Ingersoll, Karen S
and Ritterband, Lee M",
title="Informal Caregivers' Use of Internet-Based Health Resources: An Analysis of the Health Information National Trends Survey",
journal="JMIR Aging",
year="2018",
month="Dec",
day="18",
volume="1",
number="2",
pages="e11051",
keywords="caregivers; health education; internet; information dissemination; mobile phone; uncompensated care",
abstract="Background: Informal caregivers express strong interest in technology innovations to help them in their caregiving role; however, divides across sociodemographic characteristics in internet and technology access may preclude the most vulnerable caregivers from accessing such resources. Objective: This study aims to examine caregivers' internet use, both generally and for seeking health-related information, and whether usage differs as a function of caregivers' characteristics. Methods: Data were analyzed from the Health Information National Trends Survey 5 Cycle 1. Participants were included in analyses if they self-identified as providing uncompensated care to a close individual. Caregivers reported internet use factors, age, education, rurality, general health, distress, and objective caregiving burden. We used chi-square tests of independence with jackknife variance estimation to compare whether internet use factors differed by caregivers' characteristics. Results: A total of 77.5{\%} (303/391) caregivers surveyed reported ever using the internet. Of internet users, 88.1{\%} (267/303) accessed from a home computer and 83.2{\%} (252/303) from a mobile device. Most caregivers accessed health information for themselves (286/391, 73.1{\%}) or others (264/391, 67.5{\%}); fewer communicated with a doctor over the Web (148/391, 37.9{\%}) or had a wellness app (171/391, 43.7{\%}). Caregivers reporting younger age, more education, and good health were more likely to endorse any of these activities. Furthermore, two-thirds of caregivers (258/391, 66.0{\%}) endorsed trust in health information from the internet. Conclusions: Computers and mobile devices are practical platforms for disseminating caregiving-related information and supportive services to informal caregivers; these modalities may, however, have a more limited reach to caregivers who are older, have less education, and are in poorer health. ",
issn="2561-7605",
doi="10.2196/11051",
url="http://aging.jmir.org/2018/2/e11051/",
url="https://doi.org/10.2196/11051",
url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31518244"
}