Davies, A.

Rationale:  Dementia is a common neurodegenerative condition in older age associated with functional decline across multiple domains. This decline impacts not only on the person with dementia, but also on their informal carers and health and aged care systems. With the number of people with dementia rapidly increasing and few effective treatments, there is now a critical need for interventions to improve functional ability in those with the condition.

Telecare devices have been put forward as a potentially effective intervention to benefit the well-being and functioning of informal carers of people with social care needs, and to reduce the negative effects of providing care to a family member or friend. Much of the evidence used to support this view is qualitative, and therefore does not provide good-quality evidence to answer questions about its effect on carer outcomes. This review aimed to document and evaluate the quantitative evidence base for the effect of telecare interventions on outcomes for informal carers.

Background and aims: A body of literature indicates that the informal carers (e.g. family, friends) of people with social and health care needs experience poorer quality of life, health and psychological wellbeing than their non-carer counterparts (e.g. Pinquart & Sorensen, 2003). It has been suggested that telecare interventions to enable a person with social care needs to remain at home may also positively impact on informal carer wellbeing (Yeandle, 2009), however, little is known about their effect in this domain.