The Role of Educational Technology in Caregiving

Huge demographic and socio-economic changes are part of the experience of present societies. One consequence is the aging of the population and increasingly more people without the capacity for self-care. The provision of intergenerational care, namely caring for the older individuals, is a focus of attention for health professionals, but is also part of the political and social agenda. There is a need to regulate, support, and facilitate the daily life of families who have a dependent aged member. In contemporary societies, the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) is an important driver of innovation, responsible for a large transformation of living standards and new social behaviors. Within the scope of the provision of informal care, ICT can provide a great support, representing a primordial tool for updating the organizations in order to improve their efficiency, incorporating and making available services, and anticipating needs. Thus, the development of equipment, electronic applications, and websites for the elderly or their family caregivers should be conceptualized and customized to the profile of these users. A major challenge faced by healthcare institutions is to focus their services by organizing them around citizens’ needs.