Cancer Caregiver: Perceived Benefits of Technology
Open accessAbstract
Background: The burden associated with caregiving has been well documented. Caregivers have multiple responsibilities, and technology may be accessible as a potential burden-alleviating resource. Materials and Methods: We surveyed cancer caregivers regarding current technology use and willingness to use technology for easing burden or distress. Because age has been associated with technology use, responses were compared between geriatric (≥65 years old) and nongeriatric (18–64 years old) caregivers. Results: We had 112 respondents. Based on nonmissing responses, 66% ( n =71) were women, 95% ( n =106) were white, and 84% ( n =91) had post–high school education. Almost all caregivers reported having Internet (105 [94%]) and e-mail (102 [91%]) access. Nongeriatric caregivers indicated more willingness to access Internet-based tools that help caregivers (54 [93%] versus 41 [76%]; p =0.04) and were more frequent users of social media (37 [64%] versus 16 [30%]; p =0.01), smartphones (33 [57%] versus 16 [30%]; p =0.01), and other mobile wireless devices (42 [72%] versus 19 [35%]; p <0.001) than geriatric caregivers. They also more frequently expected technologies to improve their own quality of life ( p =0.009), increase their feelings of being effective as a caregiver ( p =0.02), and save time ( p =0.003). Regardless of age, a majority of caregivers (67 [62%]) endorsed the potential benefit of caregiving technologies in preventing burnout. Conclusions: Most caregivers have high access to and use of technology. Geriatric and nongeriatric caregivers were receptive to technology-based tools to help with their caregiving roles. Although nongeriatric caregivers expected to derive more benefit from such tools, both groups believed that caregiving technologies could reduce burden.
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Web-based interventions can surmount barriers to help-seeking by allowing partners to receive help at home at any convenient time and, if preferred, anonymously.
“Web-based interventions can surmount these barriers, as they would inherently allow partners to receive help at home at any convenient time and, if they prefer, to remain anonymous [10–12].”
From Web-based self-help intervention for partners of cancer patients based on acceptance and commitment therapy and self-compassion training: a randomized controlled trial with automated versus personal feedback (2021) · cites this paper as [11]
The Introduction describes Internet-based support for cancer caregivers, and the Results report that caregivers saw technology as potentially saving time and easing logistics (page numbers unavailable in our copy). The paper does not establish that partners can obtain help at home at any time, remain anonymous, or thereby overcome help-seeking barriers. (LLM, conf=0.83)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredCancer caregivers are receptive to Web-based tools that might help with their caregiving tasks and reduce their caregiver strain.
“and that they are receptive to Web-based tools that might help with their caregiving tasks and reduce their caregiver strain [2, 3, 11].”
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- Authors
- Lapid, M. I., Atherton, P. J., Clark, M. M., Kung, S., Sloan, J. A., & Rummans, T. A.
- Affiliations
- Mayo Clinic (US)
- Corresponding author
- Lapid, Maria I.
- Venue
- Telemedicine and e-Health
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-11
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 893-902
- ISSN
- 1530-5627 (ISSN-L)
- 1556-3669
- PMC
- PMC4649772
- OpenAlex
- W1649764778
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 11
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 1
- FWCI
- 4.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Telemedicine Journal and e-Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000135)
- National Cancer Institute (P30CA015083)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Keywords
- cancer caregivers, caregiver burden, technology use, social media, smartphones, age differences, caregiver burnout, quality of life
- MeSH terms
- Smartphone, Adolescent, Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neoplasms, Perception, Prospective Studies, Quality of Life, Socioeconomic Factors, Stress, Psychological, Time Factors, Caregivers, Internet, Young Adult, Wireless Technology, Social Media
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