Internet Savvy Caregiver: Dementia Training and Planner

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goal of the Internet-Based Savvy Caregiver (IBSC) program is to develop and bring to market an Internet-based psycho-educational program designed to provide persons caring for relatives who have dementing disorders the knowledge, skills, and outlook they need to undertake and succeed in the caregiving role they have assumed. The IBSC program is composed of two primary elements: 18 educational modules and the Savvy Planner(tm), an innovative tool to help caregivers develop a daily care plan and facilitate day-today caregiving. The work is addressed to a population-dementia family caregivers-that is already sizeable and that will unfortunately grow tremendously over the next several decades (Brookmeyer et al., 1998). The IBSC program's concept is based on a face-to-face caregiver-training program, the previously validated Savvy Caregiver Program (SCP). The specific aims of the proposal include the following: (1) produce a new and unique design delivery of 3 of the 18 existing manual-based SCP core instructional modules; (2) identify the technical design specifications for the newly conceived Savvy Planner; (3) develop a prototype version of the interactive IBSC core modules and the Savvy Planner with input from family caregiver consumers and advisory board members; and (4) establish feasibility of the program shell, initial content modules, and Savvy Planner that demonstrates the accessibility and usability of the Phase11 prototype. The research will employ an iterative design and refinement process to develop and test the prototype application. The initial design phase will draw, on expert and consumer input to develop a first version of the prototype. There will be two rounds of formative evaluation, allowing for revisions between rounds. The initial formative evaluation will focus on issues of acceptability, usability, and consumer satisfaction. The second formative evaluation will add a component of self-reported effectiveness assessment to the ongoing evaluation of acceptability, usability and satisfaction.