Information Behavior of Rural Dementia Caregivers Over the Course of Counseling Interventions

This poster reports findings from an analysis of 81 qualitative interviews with rural dementia caregivers who participated in two research projects that evaluated cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) problemsolving interventions designed to help them manage their caregiving and reduce depression. The research questions posed in this analysis are: (RQ1) How do rural dementia caregivers who have participated in a CBT program interact with the information around them and available to them? (RQ2) How do these caregivers manage, explicitly or tacitly, their information needs and uses? The analysis demonstrates similarities and differences in information behaviors and information environments across the caregivers; for example that physical information artifacts are important to different caregivers for varied reasons, and that religious communities fulfill multiple information-related roles. The findings demonstrate the importance of accounting for the unique constraints on older caregivers in designing interventions to improve and support their caregiving experiences. Creating links among people, such as connecting caregivers to similar others facing similar challenges, and providing them with a structure to allow them to focus on their goals, appear critical to the success of such interventions.