Health Information Technology and Caregiver Interaction: Building Healthy Ecosystems

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the widely recognized role of the informal caregivers (ICGs) as key co-producers in the delivery of effective and sustainable healthcare systems. The central argument is that to enhance the quality of care in non-clinical settings and the healthcare ecosystem as a whole, developers of Health Information Technology (HIT) need to harness the knowledge and experiences of the ICGs to better align their products to practice. The paper has two aims: to improve the understandability of informal caregivers’ role in non-traditional healthcare settings, and to identify and formulate valuable guidelines for the development of “fit-for-use” HIT solutions that acknowledge the needs of the ICGs.