Improving communication and social support for caregivers of high-risk infants through mobile technologies

  • Authors:

  • Leslie S. Liu;Sen H. Hirano;Monica Tentori;Karen G. Cheng;Sheba George;Sun Young Park;Gillian R. Hayes

  • Affiliations:

  • University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA;University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA;University of California, Irvine & Universidad Autonoma de Baja, Irvine, CA, USA;Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA;Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, USA;University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA;University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA

  • Venue:
  • Proceedings of the ACM 2011 conference on Computer supported cooperative work
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

Upon leaving the hospital, parents of high-risk infants experience a variety of challenges in providing care at home. In this work, we present results from a qualitative study to understand the role of social interaction and information-sharing surrounding high-risk infants among both home caregivers and health professionals. These results demonstrate challenges in communication and social support for caregivers of these infants. Based on these results, we present design guidelines for collaborative communication technologies for this population and a prototype system design that demonstrates how these design guidelines might be met in a mobile application. Finally, we discuss how collaborative technologies can serve to improve communication with professionals as well as provide much-needed social support.