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Facebook app may serve as supportive tool for Alzheimer’s disease caregivers
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Researchers are using an innovation grant from the Regenstrief Institute in Indianapolis to study a social microvolunteering application for Facebook that provides support for caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease.
The team includes David Wilkerson, PhD, LCSW, and Erin Brady, PhD, of Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, and Daniel Bateman, MD, of Indiana University School of Medicine.
In 2014, 15.7 million unpaid caregivers provided care for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, delivering 17.9 billion hours of care, according to a press release.
Researchers expect to recruit 24 to 26 caregivers by April and begin the project in May. Participants will be divided into four groups.
Each group will be asked what informational and emotional support questions they would like answered.
The social microvolunteering app retrieves group answers and significant answers are sent back to caregiver groups for review. Caregivers will discuss online what answers seem the most relevant and then act upon their decisions.
If the research project indicates efficacy of the app, the app may serve as an inexpensive tool to provide support to caregivers across the country and worldwide.
“If our intervention can increase support, it can potentially improve caregiver health and, in conjunction with primary health care interventions, extend the amount of time that people with Alzheimer’s can remain at home,” Wilkerson said in the release.