Fitness Digital Health Technology Helps Older Caregivers

As the American population ages and life-extension technology improve, the number of people caring for family members has grown. According to the Caregiving in the United States 2020 report, about 17% of the adult population, or 53 million people, give unpaid care to a relative or other loved one with a chronic disease. Ironically, the emotional, financial, and physical load of caring for someone reduces the caretakers’ own health and quality of life, pushing them down the same path of needing a caregiver.

That’s why, at the Anschutz Medical Campus, the University of Colorado College of Nursing conducted a research to see if digital health technologies may assist caregivers get moving and stay healthy. The study, led by Dawon Baik, Blaine Reeder, Heather Coats, Christina Baker, and Catherine Jankowski, discovered that digital health technologies in the home, such as Fitbits, telehealth, and motivational messages, can help older family caregivers engage in home-based physical activities. According to the survey, digital health helps people exercise since it saves them time traveling, engages them in activities, and supports their health and fitness.

“It’s the thing that keeps you from going crazy sometimes,” a family caregiver told researchers about exercising.

The National Institute of Aging of the National Institutes of Health and the University of Colorado College of Nursing funded the study.

More research is needed in this area to help older persons improve their physical function and psychological well-being, according to the findings. Researchers interviewed 13 older persons who were caring for spouses or relatives who had heart failure, because the caregiving burden is severe on that demographic of caregivers, and they are more prone to experience anguish and neglect their own health. Family caregivers who live with their relative devote 37.4 hours per week to direct caregiving.

Another significant discovery was that some carers were self-motivated and eager to accept technology to assist them improve their physical fitness. During the COVID-19 epidemic, many elder family caregivers learned and got comfortable with technology. Prior to the pandemic, 30% of older persons believed the internet was crucial to their everyday lives, while 40% now say it is. While caregivers enjoy utilizing fitness apps, mobile apps, fitness trackers, and internet access to watch fitness videos, survey participants do not prefer coaching or fitness advice via texting.

Researchers also learned that family caregivers are more inclined to exercise if there is a home gym, equipment nearby, and social support from family, friends, children, and grandchildren.

“I don’t want my kids to say I walk like an old lady or have my grandkids tell me that they want me to get down on the floor and play with them, but I can’t because I’m too broken up. So that’s why I stay physically active every single day,” a female caregiver told researchers.

Researchers believe the study has crucial implications for addressing the personal, environmental, and behavioral issues that might either support or hinder the health and strength of elder carers.

“Further studies that design innovative digital interventions to improve the quality of life in older caregivers should focus on enhancing physical and psychological health. Because the COVID-19 pandemic stimulated increased technology use by older adults, it is an auspicious time to design and deliver interventions using digital health technology for family caregivers. The unique needs and self-efficacy for physical activity engagement of older caregivers is an important aspect of heart failure patient care that requires greater attention because the health of the informal caregiver and heart failure patient are entwined,” said researchers.

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