This paper examines how integrating telehealth tools into the care landscape for older adults with neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) is reshaping caregiving practices. Through a case study on the implementation of CARE and ESOGER—two telehealth tools designed to assess health and social vulnerabilities—we explore their impact on caregiving responsibilities and the broader ethical and emotional implications of this shift. The data collection for this study was conducted from December 2022 up until July 2023, in Québec, Canada. Our findings reveal that telehealth technologies increasingly delegate health monitoring and assessment tasks to informal caregivers, often without adequate support. While these tools are designed to enhance decision-making and accessibility, they can also obscure the emotional complexities of caregiving, amplifying caregivers’ moral and relational burdens. This shift raises critical ethical concerns as care moves from structured medical environments to private homes, where responsibilities are shaped by social norms rather than institutional frameworks. As a result, caregiving becomes more demanding while remaining largely invisible in healthcare evaluations. Drawing on perspectives on care as an embedded social practice, we argue for a revaluation of caregiving beyond biomedical definitions. This study underscores the need for ethical frameworks that account for the affective and relational dimensions of care. Moving forward, telehealth implementation and evaluation must integrate caregivers’ lived experiences to foster more equitable, responsive, and compassionate care systems.

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Caring in the Digital Age: Implications of a Telehealth Self-evaluation Tool for Informal Caregivers in Québec, Canada

  • Camille Normandin,
  • Albane Gaudissart,
  • Constance Lafontaine,
  • Kim Sawchuk

摘要

This paper examines how integrating telehealth tools into the care landscape for older adults with neurocognitive disorders (NCDs) is reshaping caregiving practices. Through a case study on the implementation of CARE and ESOGER—two telehealth tools designed to assess health and social vulnerabilities—we explore their impact on caregiving responsibilities and the broader ethical and emotional implications of this shift. The data collection for this study was conducted from December 2022 up until July 2023, in Québec, Canada. Our findings reveal that telehealth technologies increasingly delegate health monitoring and assessment tasks to informal caregivers, often without adequate support. While these tools are designed to enhance decision-making and accessibility, they can also obscure the emotional complexities of caregiving, amplifying caregivers’ moral and relational burdens. This shift raises critical ethical concerns as care moves from structured medical environments to private homes, where responsibilities are shaped by social norms rather than institutional frameworks. As a result, caregiving becomes more demanding while remaining largely invisible in healthcare evaluations. Drawing on perspectives on care as an embedded social practice, we argue for a revaluation of caregiving beyond biomedical definitions. This study underscores the need for ethical frameworks that account for the affective and relational dimensions of care. Moving forward, telehealth implementation and evaluation must integrate caregivers’ lived experiences to foster more equitable, responsive, and compassionate care systems.