# SUPPORTING HOME CARE VIA A COMMUNITY COMPUTER NETWORK

> **NIH NIH R01** · CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY · 1991 · $145,652

## Abstract

This project proposes a field experiment to evaluate the use of computer
networks in home care. Computer networks create electronic links between
remote sites. For example, homes can be linked to a clinical agency or to
other homes. Within an existing free public-access community computer
system, special programs and communication serices will be constructed to
support informal caregivers managing complex illnesses in the home. These
programs will expand the caregiver's reportoire of problem solving
strategies and decrease the caregiver's sense of isolation. A decision
support system ill help caregivers analyze complex decisions faced in
home care. The messaging and electronic mail services will enable
caregivers to maintain contact with other caregivers as well as with
professional providers, serving as a "support group without walls".

Caregivers of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) patients were selected as the
first target of this intervention. AD caregivers are prototypical of
other caregivers. Two common difficulties experienced by these and other
caregivers are (1) a loss of confidence in problem solving skills in the
face of novel, complex and emotionally loaded patient care problems and
(2) isolation resulting from the demands of constant care. Traditional.
interventions (such as support groups) require that the caregiver leave
the home and ay not occur at the time the caregiver needs the assistance.
This proposal describes a unique approach to meeting the caregiver's
needs through commonly available computer technology.

This intervention's effectiveness in enhancing caregivers' problem
solving skills and diminishing their sense of isolation will be evaluated
in a two group field experiment. One hundred subjects (caregivers of AD
patients) served from an AD clinic will be assigned randomly to either
the experimental or the control group. For a period of one year the
experimental subjects will have the computer network link in their homes.
On-going monitoring of coputer use will complement measurement of care-
giver decision skill and sense of isolation. This study tests whether
computer networks provide an effective intervention with isolated
caregivers and patients in the home. The increasing emphasis on
non-institutional care demands new approaches to delivering treatment and
support, while the availability fo computer technology provides the means
to do so.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3120335
- **Project number:** 5R01AG008617-03
- **Recipient organization:** CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** HJMKEF7EJW69
- **Principal Investigator:** PATRICIA FLATLEY BRENNAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1991
- **Award amount:** $145,652
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1989-09-01 → 1993-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3120335

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3120335, SUPPORTING HOME CARE VIA A COMMUNITY COMPUTER NETWORK (5R01AG008617-03). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3120335. Licensed CC0.

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