End of life, carers at a distance and ehealth: a mixed-methods study.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Carers at a distance in palliative care: a mixed-methods study exploring the role of ehealth.
IRAS ID
125475
Contact name
Carolina Casañas i Comabella
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Brookes University
Research summary
Carers may be defined as the lay, unpaid people who closely share the illness of a patient and provide different aspects of support. In recent years, globalisation has brought many social changes including the way we provide and perceive care. People now often live distant to their loved ones due to different reasons. Those who provide informal care to people near the end of life often have specific needs, and little is known about carers at a distance. This study will focus on the relatives who live away from the patient but still provide meaningful support.
The rapid development of the so-called Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has made possible an array of information about health issues on the Internet, and offers new ways in which we can provide care to our relatives, even if we do not live geographically near them. Ehealth can be defined as the use of ICT in health services.
Little is known about the characteristics and needs of carers at a distance, and the way they use (if at all) ehealth. The aims of this research project are to explore the needs and characteristics of carers at a distance in palliative care, and the whether and how they use ehealth resources, specifically the internet.
A mixed-methods approach will be used. First, I will send a postal survey to 200 carers who are providing care at a distance to a relative near the end of life. The survey will contain a tailor-made questionnaire with the objective of exploring the characteristics of this particular population, and a validated questionnaire to assess the needs of family carers. After the postal survey, twenty qualitative interviews will be conducted, exploring the views and experiences of these carers in more depth. I will identify these participants through the survey.
REC name
South Central - Oxford C Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
13/SC/0528
Date of REC Opinion
30 Oct 2013
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion