DUA – Digital information and support services
User experiences with and obstacles to digital information and support services for care at home(DUA).
Duration: December 2022 – December 2025
Background
People in need of care and family carers are confronted with a range of challenges and a great need for information and support. Low-threshold, basic information is needed most at the start, when the situation first arises. Although there are numerous information and support services for care at home, these are not always utilised to their full extent.
The reasons for this include insufficient knowledge or awareness of entitlement to benefits, a lack of clarity regarding the range of services and responsibilities, as well as obstacles and a lack of time to visit advice centres.
Digital information and support services are therefore also becoming increasingly important.
Numerous websites with specific information about care and some apps to support and coordinate care in the home setting can be found on the internet. Digital services are considered to have great potential, for example when it comes to relieving the burden on family carers (e.g. by providing advice and information that is not dependent upon attending appointments at specified times and places, such as via chat functions) or stabilising the care situation at home. So far, however, this potential has not been fully utilised in Germany.
This is because the advantages of digital information and support services go hand in hand with challenges, such as the dynamic development of the market and service landscape as well as the (sometimes) unclear quality and origin of information services on the topic of care. It is also often challenging for private individuals to find reliable online services, as many are barely aware of their existence and options for use. It is also often difficult to assess the quality of existing digital information and support services.
Research questions and methodology
The DUA project examines the opportunities offered by informing applicants or their relatives about online sources regarding care at home when they are first sent an appointment with the Medical Service, i.e. in order to cover basic information and support requirements when someone is going to need care.
The methodology involves surveying applicants (or their relatives) for assessment of their need for care, on the one hand, and focus groups with experts from the Bavarian Medical Service, on the other. The main questions include:
What digital information and support services are available for informal care? (Focus: websites, apps)
Which digital information and support services are (not) used by applicants and their relatives?
Which groups of people are (not) reached by digital information and support services?
Is including information about digital information and support services with appointment notices for the Medical Service a suitable approach for meeting the initial information needs of applicants and their relatives at a low threshold?
Is including information about digital information and support services with appointment notices for the Medical Service a suitable approach for facilitating access to the fragmented information and support landscape of the German care system for applicants and their relatives?
This project is being run in collaboration with the Bavarian Medical Service.
(Kopie 1)
Sources
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