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

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

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. Care receivers range from elderly people, in need of assistance with household activities only, to those with a comprehensive need for round-the-clock care. Caregivers commute between Austria and their respective home country (mainly Slovakia, Hungary and Romania) in a two or more weeks cycle. Burdensome working conditions arise mainly due to language problems, isolated coexistence with a person affected by e.g. dementia, in combination with limited professional education and quality control.

The aim of the project is the development and evaluation of a 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)
2. a comprehensive electronic care documentation
3. an integrated emergency management
4. links to translation pages or networking opportunities with members and relatives

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).

Inclusion Criteria:

• Household with 24-hour-care service
• Household located in the federal territory of Austria
• Caregiver able and willing to comply with all study related procedures and giving informed consent
• Age 55+ years for care receivers

Exclusion Criteria:

• Death of care receiver
• Termination of 24-hour-care, due to other reasons than death of care receiver
• Interruption of 24-hour-care for at least 8 weeks