Background

The role of carers in Europe

Recent advances in healthcare research and innovation have opened new horizons for care provision addressing older people with long-term care needs. Still, around 80% of care across the European Union (EU) is still provided by informal carers – i.e. family members, friends and neighbours.

Caring for a loved person can be very rewarding, but also very demanding and cause physical and psychological exhaustion, social isolation, difficulties in reconciliation of work and care responsibilities, and other issues. Support services based on information and communication technologies (ICTs) can do a lot to support informal carers, as recent evidence prove (Carretero et al., 2012).

Carers & mobile devices

Mobile devices, in particular, can be of great advantage for carers as they are highly widespread and normally easier to use compared to desktop PCs (also for persons who are not very digitally skilled). They allow the access to a wide range of internet-based mobile applications (apps) and websites already available on the market, extremely useful to address some of main carers’ needs such as: care scheduling and task sharing; health information and training; reminders; remote communication with other family members and care professionals. In brief, carers could benefit significantly of many existing apps, but in most cases they are not aware of these solutions, how to install and use them, or the potential benefits they could get. The proliferation of mobile devices and dedicated solutions is creating a pressing need for carers to acquire digital skills and adequate knowledge, in order for them to understand, find, use and benefit from these apps and websites.