Support elderly caregivers through mobile applications [Apoyo a cuidadores de adultos mayores mediante aplicaciones móviles]

Abstract

Older adults, as they present chronic diseases, require the support of people to preserve their quality of life, despite their affections. These people are called caregivers and oversee administering medicines, food, bath and other various activities. This activity is highly demanding, so it is necessary to think about the quality of life and health of the caregiver, which is why a series of initiatives have appeared with this orientation. This article describes the 'Caregivers' application, conceived as a tool to support the caregiver for support tasks for the elderly through registration of alarms and reminders of medications, allowable foods, therapies as well as the registration of important events related with the diseases that patients suffer. We also describe an assessment of usability heuristics in this mobile application, where the caregiver does not have much time to access it during their daily tasks, which gives greater importance to its ease of use and the daily language of the caregiver. © 2017 AISTI.