ABSTRACT
Introduction: Phenomena such as ageing population and the development of chronic, life-threatening diseases have created the need for specialized healthcare services for both patients and their caregivers. Additionally, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have entered people’s daily lives, serving the needs, with a plethora of new, digital interventions.
Methodology: This review aims to establish the purpose of the development, methodology, and effectiveness of the interventions aimed at empowering people experiencing traumatic events of illness and bereavement. The study is a systematic literature review of a total of 58 randomized controlled trials. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results: The interventions described aimed to improve the quality of life of patients and caregivers with a variety of disorders, the main ones being cancer and diabetes mellitus. Studies related to bereavement were less common. The most common interventions developed were web-based and smart phone applications. Most publications showed statistically significant differences in favor of the intervention group in all or part of the initial objectives. The most common limitation of the studies was the inability to generalize the results due to various methodological reasons.
Conclusions: The implementation of online services to empower people experiencing a traumatic event is a realistic alternative in most cases, and further exploration of this field is worthwhile.
Key words: bereavement, digital intervention, information and communication technology, palliative care
