Digital Support for Quality Assurance in 24-hour Caregiving at Home

Brief Summary

Detailed Description

Due to the demographic change, there is a growing demand for professional and institutional care, as well as the need for 24-hour home care. Due to the cost-efficiency and 24-hour availability, the 24-hour home care represents a cornerstone of the care of older people and, with more than 60.000 users in Austria, it represents an important alternative to family assistance and mobile care. Care receivers range from elderly people, who only need assistance with household activities, to those with a high need for a round-the-clock care. Caregivers commute between Austria and the respective home country (mainly Slovakia, Hungary and Romania) for the care work in a two or more weeks rhythm. Burdensome working conditions arise mainly due to language problems, isolated coexistence with a person affected by e.g. dementia in combination with little to no relevant professional education and quality control. The aim of the project is the development and evaluation of a distributed client-server software solution for the support and quality assurance of 24-hour home care. The application software contains: 1. an information and education portal (e-learning platform) with interactive learning content on common diseases and short videos on recurrent care situations in German, as well as in Slovak, Hungarian and Romanian as the most frequent languages of the caregivers. 2. a comprehensive electronic care documentation that supports quality assurance and ensures transparency between people involved. 3. an integrated emergency management, which offers caregivers the opportunity to react quickly and professionally to emergencies. 4. links to translation pages or networking opportunities with members and relatives. By using the application software, the quality of care will be supported and further result in an increase of care quality and quality of life of the older adults cared for. Due to intense longitudinal evaluation design with more than 100 involved households facilitating 24-hour home care for a period of 12 months, the efficacy will be measured multi-dimensionally. Common surveys and structured interviews of people with cognitive impairments tend to lack sensitivity to the interventions studied. Hence, a mixed-method approach has been selected that integrates 1) investigator observations, 2) interviews with caregivers, 3) interviews with relative and 4) interviews with care receivers (where possible). Trained investigators generate reliable ratings via triangulation. Field work and analysis follows the methodology developed as Toolkit ASCOT (Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit 11) SCT4 (self completion survey).

Primary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes

• Project specific self-rated satisfaction and usefulness related to electronic care documentation, care quality and conditions, and interconnectedness and communication - Summary Score of 7 project specific questions for Relatives of Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT (Adult Social Care Outcome Toolkit) SCT4 - Domain Score for Personal Cleanliness and Comfort related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 - Domain Score for Control over Daily Life related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 Instrument for Caregivers - Domain Occupation(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 Instrument for Caregivers - Domain Participation and involvement(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 - Domain Score for Food and Drink related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• Domain Score for Social Participation and Involvement related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 Instrument for Caregivers - Domain Personal safety(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT (Adult Social Care Outcome Toolkit) SCT4 value - Summary Score of seven ASCOT Instrument for Caregivers Scores(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 - Domain Score for Personal Safety related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• Project specific self-rated satisfaction and usefulness related to electronic care documentation, professional skills and qualification, and interconnectedness and communication - Summary Score of 14 project specific questions for Caregivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• Project specific self-rated satisfaction and usefulness related to electronic care documentation, and interconnectedness and communication - Summary Score of 4 project specific questions for Nurses(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 - Domain Score for Accommodation Cleanliness and Comfort related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 - Domain Score for Occupation related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 Instrument for Caregivers - Domain Looking after yourself(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 Instrument for Caregivers - Domain Feeling supported and encouraged(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 - Domain Score for Dignity related to Care Receivers(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 Instrument for Caregivers - Domain Control over daily life(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)
• ASCOT SCT4 Instrument for Caregivers - Domain Space and time to be yourself(Baseline, 3 Month Follow-Up, 12 Month Follow-Up)