Zeitschrift für Psychologie und Psychotherapie
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Effectiveness of Web-Based Psychosocial Interventions for Family Caregivers of Older People: What Do We Know?

Francesco Barbabella and Arianna Poli

The contribution of family caregivers to long-term care of older people is a relevant issue. Family caregivers may face different psychological and social needs arising from the challenging caregiving situation. In this respect, webbased psychosocial programs are progressively being refined and demonstrating they can be effective in supporting caregivers. This commentary describes the main types of web-based interventions for family caregivers of older people and available evidence on their effectiveness. Psychoeducational, peer and multicomponent programs have been the main object of research so far and can improve, under certain conditions, psychological wellbeing and social inclusion of caregivers. General integration, user and transferability issues are also discussed and call for future research in the field.