Demers Louise, Fuhrer Marcus J, Jutai Jeffrey, Lenker James, Depa Malgorzata, De Ruyter Frank
Research Center, Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal, Quebec, Canada.
Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2009 Aug;88(8):645-55; quiz 656-8, 691. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0b013e3181ae0e70.
To develop and validate the content of a conceptual framework concerning outcomes for caregivers whose recipients are assistive technology users.
The study was designed in four stages. First, a list of potential key variables relevant to the caregivers of assistive technology users was generated from a review of the existing literature and semistructured interviews with caregivers. Second, the variables were analyzed, regrouped, and partitioned, using a conceptual mapping approach. Third, the key areas were anchored in a general stress model of caregiving. Finally, the judgments of rehabilitation experts were used to evaluate the conceptual framework.
An important result of this study is the identification of a complex set of variables that need to be considered when examining the experience of caregivers of assistive technology users. Stressors, such as types of assistance, number of tasks, and physical effort, are predominant contributors to caregiver outcomes along with caregivers' personal resources acting as mediating factors (intervening variables) and assistive technology acting as a key moderating factor (effect modifier variable).
Recipients' use of assistive technology can enhance caregivers' well being because of its potential for alleviating a number of stressors associated with caregiving. Viewed as a whole, this work demonstrates that the assistive technology experience of caregivers has many facets that merit the attention of outcomes researchers.
构建并验证一个关于辅助技术使用者照料者结局的概念框架的内容。
该研究分四个阶段进行设计。首先，通过回顾现有文献以及与照料者进行半结构化访谈，列出与辅助技术使用者照料者相关的潜在关键变量清单。其次，采用概念映射方法对这些变量进行分析、重新分组和划分。第三，将关键领域锚定在一个一般照料压力模型中。最后，利用康复专家的判断来评估该概念框架。
本研究的一个重要结果是识别出了一组复杂的变量，在考察辅助技术使用者照料者的经历时需要对这些变量加以考虑。诸如援助类型、任务数量和体力消耗等压力源是照料者结局的主要影响因素，同时照料者的个人资源作为中介因素（干预变量）以及辅助技术作为关键调节因素（效应修饰变量）发挥作用。
由于辅助技术具有减轻许多与照料相关压力源的潜力，因此使用者对辅助技术的使用能够提升照料者的幸福感。从整体来看，这项工作表明照料者的辅助技术体验具有多个方面，值得结局研究人员关注。
