The benefits of e-health support for older family caregivers in rural areas.

We conducted a pragmatic, mixed methods study comparing rural family caregivers receiving e-health caregiver support (n = 35) with a control group (n = 21) receiving conventional, non-e-health, caregiver support. After 18 months, the benefits of support were evaluated using the Care Effectiveness Scale (40-items exploring the domains of preparedness, enrichment and predictability). In all domains the e-health group scored significantly higher than the control group. The adjusted difference for overall benefits was 3.0 (P = 0.02) on the scale 0-10. In addition, semi structured interviews were conducted with a sub-sample of the caregivers. For the e-health group flexibility, availability and being able to individualise the support were essential factors. All caregivers in the control group found conventional support to be beneficial, but also stressed unmet needs related to the conventional support being standardised and non-flexible. The study suggests that providers of caregiver support should offer e-health support as an alternative to conventional caregiver support, as it can be more beneficial to family caregivers.