Summary 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.

Background: With the evolution of contemporary occupations mediated by digital technologies (DTs), there is a need for occupational therapists to develop and structure knowledge on how to support older adults’ engagement in occupations and social participation in a digitalised society. Objective: The objective of this study is to explore how tailoring to support older adults’ engagement in DT-mediated occupations could be schematised. Material and methods: The study employed a multiple case study methodology. There were nine cases, with each case involving an older adult undergoing a collaborative process to support engagement in DT-mediated occupations. The collaborative process was initiated through questionnaires, observations, and dialogues. Meetings and tailoring strategies were documented in fieldnotes and memos on tailoring, respectively. Semi-structured interviews concluded data collection. Cross-case synthesis was used in data analysis. Results: The result is a proposed scheme for tailoring to support older adults’ engagement in digital technology-mediated occupations, wherein strategies undertaken in the collaborative processes were synthesised and described. Conclusion and significance: The proposed scheme for tailoring could contribute to occupational therapists’ knowledge on how to support older adults’ engagement in contemporary occupations. Testing the model in various practice settings is recommended in order to enhance occupational therapy practice.

In this article, we present a design methodology for argumentation-based health information systems. With a focus on the application of formal argumentation, the methodology aims at eliciting requirements in regard to argumentation reasoning behavior, knowledge and user models, and business logic on levels below and above the argumentation layer. We highlight specific considerations that need to be made dependent on the system type, i.e., for clinical decision-support systems, patient-facing systems, and administration systems. In addition, we outline challenges in regards to the design of argumentation-based intelligent systems for healthcare, considering the state of the art of argumentation research, health information systems, and software design methods. For each challenge, we outline a mitigation strategy.