Smart Homecare - CARER+ Final Conference, Paris, 27th March 2015

1. How Carer+ Tools Impact
Home Care Provision?
Results of the pilot programme implemented in five European
countries:
France, Italy, Romania, Latvia and Spain
Telecentre-Europe AISBL (BE)
CARER+ Final Conference
27 March 2015
Paris

2. CARER+
Tools
1. Pilot sites
2. How we
prepared for
the pilot?
3. How we
piloted?
4. How we
measured
impacts?
5. Policy
development
6. What we
achieved?

3. CARER+ TOOLS
Training to
improve
digital skills
AND
work-specific
digital
competencies
Equipping
carers and care
recipients
WITH
ICT devices
Testing home care
provision with
ICTs
(based on a mutual
learning of carers and
older people)

4. ICTs USED
iPad Mini
Google Nexus 7”
iPad Air
NFC tags

5. 1. PILOT SITES
• 5 EU member states
• Urban and rural sites
• 13 sites
• France (3) Paris, Poitiers, Nice
• Italy (3) Bologna and
surrounding area
• Latvia (2) Riga, Jelgava
• Romania (2) Timisoara, Deva
• Spain (3) Bilbao and
surrounding area

6. Local staff trainings in pictures
Staff training in Spain
Staff training in Romania
Staff training in Italy

7. 3. HOW WE PILOTED?
•Improving digital skills
•Developing work-
specific digital
competencies
10 month training
for carers
•Equipping
•192 paid carers
•50 informal
caregivers
•250 older people
(care recipients)
WITH
•Internet tablets and
NFC tags in 5 countries
ICT devices
for carers and
care recipients •Mutual learning with use
of ICTs
•Exploring ICT solutions for
care work and everyday
life of older people
6 month home care
provision with ICTs
(during the training)

8. Pilot in pictures

9. 4. HOW WE MEASURED IMPACTS?
• Good practices for
care work with ICTs
• Good practices for
using ICT by older
people in everyday
life, health
prevention
• With carers and
care recipients
• Personal
sentiments,
successes, difficulties
• Same carers
• Change of digital
skills, impact on
home care practice,
quality of life of
carers and of the
older people
• 192 paid carers + 50
informal caregivers
• Care practice, digital
skills, expectations …
Pre-Test
Survey
with
Carers
Post-Test
Survey
with
Carers
Case
studies,
good
practices
Focus
Groups

10. 1. How effective was the
Training Programme for the Carers?

11. 57% of paid carers felt the training moderately useful and up to
40% very/absolutely useful.
10%
27%
57%
5%
1%
How useful do you think the skills and competencies obtained
through the training programme will be in your future caring
practice?
Absolutely useful
Very useful
Moderately useful
Slightly useful
Not useful at all

12. The training programme did improved digital, and care-related digital
skills. Learning together with care recipients seemed to be more
challenging.
Improvement of technical/digital skills in general
Improvement of some specific digital skills related to my
care work
Development of my general professional knowledge about
home care
Learning together with care recipients
Networking with other practitioners, building new
relationships
93.4%
69.8%
69.8%
58.5%
65.1%
What would you say have been the main benefits of the training
programme for you?

13. 2. How caring practice was affected in
CARER+ Pilot by the carers’ opinion?

14. Keep contact with team, develop general and specific skills seemed to be the
main benefit for carers in work. Networking with team mates (where carers
are self-employed) and contact care recipients also look to get improved.
Keeping contact with care recipients
Managing time/organising tasks
Administration
Keeping in contact with your work team
Keeping in contact with partner institutions
Developing your general professional
skills/knowledge
Networking with other
professionals/practitioners
Developing your specific knowledge/expertise
in home care
Looking for career opportunities
46.2%
34.9%
9.4%
71.7%
17.9%
68.9%
55.7%
66.0%
10.4%
Which aspects of your working practice were affected the most
positively by the ICT device you were equipped with in the CARER+
project?

15. In general, carers felt their job more effective and having more
control on it.
I feel I can do my job more effectively
I feel more creative in my job
I feel more in control in my job
I feel less isolated in my work
I feel more content with my job
3.9
2.6
3.4
3
3.2
Thinking about how the ICT device you used in CARER+ affected you,
how do you think about your job as a carer now?
Mean (From disagree to strongly agree, five-point scale)

16. Although, two-third of carers found the ICT device moderately useful
(less than one-third very useful) in care work, 74% would use it in care
practice in the future.
6%
20%
64%
8%
2%
Overall, how useful was the ICT
device you were equipped with
in CARER+ in your everyday care
practice?
Absolutely useful
Very useful
Moderately useful
Slightly useful
Not useful at all 75%
7%
19%
Do you think you would like to
use an ICT tool like the one you
were given in the Carer+ project
in your caring practice in the
future?
Yes No I don't know

17. 3. How care recipients benefitted in
CARER+?

18. As carers reported, in half of the cases, ICT was easy to use for the care
recipients. Other part claimed it was ‘moderately’ easy to learn (some
difficulties).
4%
41%
44%
10%
1%
How far was the technology you were provided with easy to use for
your care recipient?
Absolutely easy to use
Very easy to use
Moderately easy to use
Slightly hard to use
Not easy to use at all

19. By the carers, attitudes and digital competencies developed the most with
care recipients, as well, some mental and emotional improvement could be
sensed. Specific life aspects also changed for the better (as they were
relevant).
Physical well-being
Mental and emotional well-being
Independent living
Social relationships
Family relationships
Their autonomy (ability to express and fulfil personal…
Sense of security and safety
Attitude to ICTs
Capacity and competence to use ICTs
3.4
4.0
2.6
2.7
2.9
2.8
2.9
4.0
4.0
How far do you think ICT usage in CARER+ affected the quality of life
of the care recipients? (Mean on a five-point scale)

20. What we can learn from case studies?
• Many applications are available (free or for some minimal charge)
invented for home care work (do the administration, organise daily
work etc.). These applications can be very useful once carers
learned to use technology.
• Some carers found applications like that and CARER+ also offering
similar solutions (especially free ones).
• Care recipients used applications primarily for leisure time and
communication however, some of the applications indirectly impact
on their physical and mental status (brain conditions by chess or
other games, health information or exercises found on the Internet,
applications that help people with Alzheimer to recognise faces
etc.).
• To find more and more similar applications can be very functional
for the care recipients as well.