New scientific publication »Psychological outcomes of eCare technologies use for informal carers: A scoping study«

Kaja Smole Orehek, assist. prof. Simona Hvalič Touzery, PhD, assist. prof. Andraž Petrovčič, PhD, assoc. prof. Vesna Dolničar, PhD (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Social Informatics), and assoc. prof. Matjaž Debevc, PhD, and assist. prof. Ines Kožuh, PhD (University of Maribor, Faculty of Electrical Engeneering and Computer Science) are co-authors of a scientific article, titled »Psychological outcomes of eCare technologies use for informal carers: A scoping study« and is available in Gerontechnology Journal.

The scoping study’s aim was to provide an overview of the psychological outcomes of eCare technologies use for informal carers. Included were peer reviewed papers, written in English. The data search was conducted in Academic search complete, Scopus, ProQuest and Science Direct databases in October 2017 and included 16 studies published since 2013. Six psychological outcomes were identified (peace of mind, reassurance, anxiety, depression, stress and burden). Out of those psychological outcomes, positive outcomes of eCare technologies use for informal carers were counted 37 times and negative outcomes only eight, suggesting a positive prevalent pattern of eCare technologies use for informal carers. The outlined interplay between the positive and negative psychological outcomes suggest that the use of eCare technologies in informal care warrants further research, for instance whether the eCare technologies actually fulfil older people and informal carers' needs.