Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary Analysis

BackgroundPatient engagement is critical for realizing the value of telehealth modalities such as the patient portal. Family caregiver engagement may also be critical for facilitating the use of the patient portal among adult patients, including older adults. Obje...

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Main Authors: Minakshi Raj, Bradley Iott
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: JMIR Publications 2021-10-01
Series:JMIR Aging
Online Access:https://aging.jmir.org/2021/4/e29074
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author Minakshi Raj
Bradley Iott
author_facet Minakshi Raj
Bradley Iott
author_sort Minakshi Raj
collection DOAJ
description BackgroundPatient engagement is critical for realizing the value of telehealth modalities such as the patient portal. Family caregiver engagement may also be critical for facilitating the use of the patient portal among adult patients, including older adults. ObjectiveThis study aims to analyze the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey to characterize family caregivers’ use of their care recipient’s patient portal in terms of sociodemographic, health, and caregiving characteristics and caregivers’ use of their own portal. MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey 5 Cycle 3. This survey was administered to 5438 US adults between January and May 2019. We analyzed data from 320 respondents who were identified as family caregivers. We created measures to reflect family caregivers’ use of their care recipient’s and their own portal, caregiver demographic and caregiving characteristics, and care recipient health characteristics. ResultsOver half of the caregivers (179/320, 55.9%) reported using their own portal at least once, whereas only one-third (105/320, 32.8%) reported using their care recipient’s record in the previous 12 months. Caregivers using their own portal were significantly more likely to use their care recipient’s portal (odds ratio 11.18; P<.001). ConclusionsPolicies should enable patients to designate family caregivers who can access their patient portal. Providers could screen caregivers for challenges in their caregiving responsibilities that may be addressed through the portal so they can better support their adult relatives. Interventions to support family caregivers, especially older caregivers, in using their own portal may facilitate their use of their care recipient’s portal.
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spelling doaj.art-152cd421abdc45979de7aabe7231f53e2023-08-28T19:27:43ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Aging2561-76052021-10-0144e2907410.2196/29074Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary AnalysisMinakshi Rajhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-1457-7850Bradley Iotthttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9784-0521 BackgroundPatient engagement is critical for realizing the value of telehealth modalities such as the patient portal. Family caregiver engagement may also be critical for facilitating the use of the patient portal among adult patients, including older adults. ObjectiveThis study aims to analyze the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey to characterize family caregivers’ use of their care recipient’s patient portal in terms of sociodemographic, health, and caregiving characteristics and caregivers’ use of their own portal. MethodsWe conducted a secondary analysis of cross-sectional data from the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trends Survey 5 Cycle 3. This survey was administered to 5438 US adults between January and May 2019. We analyzed data from 320 respondents who were identified as family caregivers. We created measures to reflect family caregivers’ use of their care recipient’s and their own portal, caregiver demographic and caregiving characteristics, and care recipient health characteristics. ResultsOver half of the caregivers (179/320, 55.9%) reported using their own portal at least once, whereas only one-third (105/320, 32.8%) reported using their care recipient’s record in the previous 12 months. Caregivers using their own portal were significantly more likely to use their care recipient’s portal (odds ratio 11.18; P<.001). ConclusionsPolicies should enable patients to designate family caregivers who can access their patient portal. Providers could screen caregivers for challenges in their caregiving responsibilities that may be addressed through the portal so they can better support their adult relatives. Interventions to support family caregivers, especially older caregivers, in using their own portal may facilitate their use of their care recipient’s portal.https://aging.jmir.org/2021/4/e29074
spellingShingle Minakshi Raj
Bradley Iott
Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary Analysis
JMIR Aging
title Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary Analysis
title_full Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary Analysis
title_fullStr Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary Analysis
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary Analysis
title_short Evaluation of Family Caregivers’ Use of Their Adult Care Recipient’s Patient Portal From the 2019 Health Information National Trends Survey: Secondary Analysis
title_sort evaluation of family caregivers use of their adult care recipient s patient portal from the 2019 health information national trends survey secondary analysis
url https://aging.jmir.org/2021/4/e29074
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