Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-2017

Publication Title

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting

Volume

61

Issue

1

Publisher

Sage

Abstract

Alzheimer’s caregivers seek social support through online communities to deal with their issues. The research team conducted a content analysis of ALZConnected.org to investigate the characteristics of information searched by caregivers and responses received. Two-hundred fifty posts and related responses were randomly selected and analyzed using a classification tool derived from the analysis of 500 posts and related responses spanning a yearlong period. The Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIW C) generated an average tone rating of 25.94 for the posts and 52.69 for the responses. The findings highlighted the caregiver’s need for emotional support (59.6%), and confusion about Alzheimer’s symptoms (12%). Most responses suggested informational resources (40.16%) and advised to seek professional assistance (21.31%). One of the key needs identified to inform future design of an Alzheimer’s Caregiver Forum was a design sensitive to the capabilities of its elder user audience.

Comments

This manuscript has been published in the Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting. Please find the published version here (note that a subscription is necessary to access this version):

http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1541931213601925

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