Online Learning Support Platform for Dementia Carers in Macao: A Collaborative Study between Australia and the Greater China Region
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed the iSupport learning platform for online education and skills training for dementia caregivers. The KWNC research team conducted a multi-centre study with six sites in Australia, Beijing, Xi'an, Taipei and Hong Kong to investigate the localisation of the Chinese version of iSupport in each Chinese region and to evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and care experiences of the programme for Chinese family carers using a randomised controlled trial study. The results showed that iSupport can significantly improve carers' mental health-related quality of life, social support, caring self-efficacy, carer stress, and carers' responses to changes in caregiving behavior, and reduce the subjective burden of dementia care. The platform will be disseminated for use in the community. The results have been published in the "Macau Journal of Nursing" and "Journal of Advanced Nursing".
(Research Team: Professor Zhu MingXia; Assistant Professor Lei Wai In; Lecturer Wu Jian Wei; Assistant Researcher Che Sok Leng of Kiang Wu Nursing College of Macau)