The impact of assistive living technology on perceived independence of people with a physical disability in executing daily activities: a systematic literature review.

PURPOSE: People with physical disabilities often require lifetime support and experience challenges to maintain or (re)define their level of independence. Assistive living technologies (ALT) are promising to increase independent living and execution of activities of daily living (ADL). This paper provides a systematic literature review that aims to analyse the present state of the literature about the impact of ALT on perceived independence of people with a physical disability receiving long-term care. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Databases Embase, Medline, and Web of Science were searched for eligible studies from 2010 or later. RESULTS: Nine studies were included, of which seven qualitative, one quantitative, and one mixed methods. Quality was generally high. ALT enabled participants to execute ADL. We found six themes for the impact of ALT on perceived independence: feeling enabled, choice and control, feeling secure, time alone, feeling less needy, and participation. CONCLUSIONS: ALT appears to impact perceived independence in many ways, exceeding merely the executional aspect of independence. Existing research is limited and quite one-sided. More large-scale studies are needed in order to inform care organisations how to implement ALT, especially considering societal developments and challenges impacting long-term care.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONPeople with a physical disability receiving long-term care experience that assistive living technology impacted their independence.Their independence is increased by making them feel enabled, secure, and less needy and increasing their choice and control, time alone, and participation.Most studies focused on the use of environmental control systems by people with spinal cord injury.More research is needed to evaluate long-term effects of diverse assistive living technologies used by people with a physical disability receiving long-term care.

[Sharing informal care: What are the considerations?] / Het delen van mantelzorg: wat zijn de overwegingen?

Due to social, political, and demographic developments in Dutch healthcare, the pressure on informal carers of vulnerable, senior citizens living at home continues to increase. To relieve this pressure, people in the senior citizens' social network are looking for ways to share care tasks with others. However, many informal caregivers seem to experience a threshold in this respect. This pilot study focuses on understanding the considerations involved in sharing caregiving tasks with others. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with six informal caregivers of single, senior citizens living at home. This study shows that these considerations are characterised by a relationship between informal caregivers' workload, their shyness to ask others for help, and the perception of care recipients' demand, combined with informal caregivers' natural inclination to do it themselves. Feelings of being responsible for the care and behaviour of care recipients, and the choices that must be made for them seem to play an additional role. To develop adequate solutions that lead to sharing informal care with others, and relieving the pressure on informal caregivers, more insight into the (personal) mechanisms behind this sense of responsibility seems necessary.