Investigating non-face-to-face service awareness and needs of family caregivers with dementia patients during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose The number of dementia patients is increasing worldwide, and it is predicted to further increase by more than 50 million by 2050 (World Health Organization, 2012).About 55% of dementia patient are care at home by family caregivers such as spouse or children in Korea even after implementation of the long-term care insurance system (Park, Ko, Jung, & Jung, 2019). The outbreak of COVID-19 resulted in shifting to non-face-to-face services provision to dementia patient especially in provision of education and support. Non-face-to-face services allows every dementia patient and caregiver to participate beyond limitation of time, place and COVID-19 restrictions. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) presented show that external variables such as COVID-19 influences perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of non-face-to-face services so that caregivers develop good attitudes towards its usage (Ammenwerth, 2019). Good attitude of using non-face-to-face services influences the intention of use of the service. Thus, this study aims to investigate the awareness and demands for non-face-to-face services among family caregivers of dementia patients during COVID-19 pandemic. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted from August to December 2021 at Metropolitan Dementia Center, South Korea among caregiver who were 18 years/ older who can use smart devices and had no difficulty in reading, understanding and writing. An online survey was used to collect data on preferred method of information provision, smart devices in possession to use, services want to receive, support needed for family caregivers of dementia patients,  perceive usefulness, perceived ease of use, and intention of use of non-face-to-face services.. SPSS was used to analyze data. Results and Discussion A total of 284 caregivers responded in this study and response rate was 94.6%. 70% of responded preferred family gathering and self-help groups as the best metho of getting information about dementia. Four-fifth of them have smartphones, and 37% prefer to receive family support programs on dementia. Most of them need support such as training on how to use non-face-to-face services (41.2%), customer centers where they can receive free information (44.4%) and discount on internet usage fee (29.9%). Perceived usefulness (p <.01) and perceived ease of use (p <.01) influences the intention of use of non-face-to-face services among family caregivers with dementia patients.