Digital Health Innovations for Caregivers of People with Chronic Conditions

Dear Colleagues,

Our aging global population, health and social care workforce shortages, and recent experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic have highlighted once more the reliance of our societies worldwide on caregivers. These dependencies include both “informal” caregivers (e.g., friends and family) and professional caregivers (e.g., nurses, doctors, social workers). 

The challenges that caregivers face on a day-to-day basis are considerable. The reality is that many do not stay physically or mentally well, and there can be little accessible support on offer. This results in caregivers facing lower quality of life, increased burden, and reduced opportunities to enjoy work and activities for wellbeing. Many of those who receive care on a regular basis face a complex array of health problems, including chronic conditions such as cognitive decline and dementia. An aging population will mean that many chronic conditions such as dementia will continue to become more commonplace. There is a need to learn more about how to best support the health and wellbeing of caregivers, including through the lens of digital solutions.

This Special Issue is focused on all types of digital solutions (e.g., smartphone applications, virtual reality, data-driven approaches) that offer learnings on how to support the indispensable caregiver population that supports those with chronic conditions. 

Some examples of topics that could be covered include:

• Novel/innovative ways of engaging or “co-creating” with caregivers to produce higher-quality digital innovations aimed at improving wellbeing in caregivers;
• Digital innovations designed to support “informal” caregivers to improve overall wellbeing/quality of life, including within the community setting;
• Digital innovations used/tested in the care home/nursing home sector to support professional caregivers’ wellbeing;
• Digital innovations designed for remote monitoring and support;
• Data-driven approaches to understand and support professional and/or informal carers;
• Digital innovations that can help family members and friends of individuals who experience side effects of treatments and/or medications.

Dr. Kieren Egan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Dr. Kieren Egan
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• brain health
• cognitive decline
• co-design
• digital health
• caregivers
• long-term conditions
• chronic conditions