Exploring the digital support needs of caregivers of people with serious mental illness

Farheen Siddiqui, Delvin Varghese, Pushpendra Singh, Sunita Bapuji Bayyavarapu, Stephen Lindsay, Dharshani Chandrasekara, Pranav Kulkarni, Ling Wu, Taghreed Alshehri, Patrick Olivier

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference PaperResearchpeer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In low-and middle-income countries like India, people with severe mental illness (PSMI) rely on their families as a primary source of care, given the lack of support from healthcare systems. The demanding nature of caregiving places significant physical and mental demands on caregivers, who are the primary source of support to PSMI. We explore how caregivers in under-resourced settings can be better supported through everyday digital technologies. We conducted interviews with caregivers (from urban and rural India), as well as workshops with professionals from Indian NGOs that work directly with PSMIs. We found that technology has the potential to (1) provide carer-centred support that empowers carers who experience stigma and issues with existing support networks; (2) provide support for carers to overcome barriers and progress in the recovery of the PSMI. We conclude with design considerations, proposing how an online peer community can leverage carers' expertise to actualise support provision.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
EditorsStephanie Mueller, Julie R. Williamson, Max L. Wilson
Place of PublicationNew York NY USA
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Number of pages16
ISBN (Electronic)9781450394215
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023
EventInternational Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023 - , Germany
Duration: 23 Apr 202328 Apr 2023
https://chi2023.acm.org/ (Website)
https://dl.acm.org/doi/proceedings/10.1145/3544548 (Proceedings)

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2023
Abbreviated titleCHI 2023
Country/TerritoryGermany
Period23/04/2328/04/23
Internet address

Keywords

  • caregivers
  • empowerment
  • HCI4D
  • India
  • mental health
  • mhealth
  • online communities
  • peer support

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