Table 1 Characteristics of reviewed articles

Anderson et al. [17]

To explore how family caregivers of persons living with dementia use the social media platform of the blog as a part of the individual caregiving experience.

9

Caregivers of persons living with dementia

N/A

Qualitative: Analyzed samples of blog content using content analysis supplemented by thematic analysis

Gender:

8 women

1 man

Ethnicity:

N/A

United States

Barbabella et al. [18]

To verify the impact of a web-based psychosocial intervention on caregivers.

94, in 20 focus groups

Caregivers of older adults

51–69

Pretest-posttest design with mixed methods: Questionnaires and focus groups

Gender:

57 women

37 men

Ethnicity:

N/A

Italy

Bateman et al. [19]

To determine (1) the feasibility of innovating peer support group work delivered through social media with friendsourcing; (2) whether the intervention provides an acceptable method for AD caregivers to obtain support; and (3) whether caregiver outcomes were affected by the intervention.

6

Caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer’s disease

34–74

Pretest-posttest design with mixed methods: Surveys and semi-structured interviews

Gender:

3 women

3 men

Ethnicity:

4 White

1 African American

1 Asian American

United States

Blusi, Asplund, Jong [20]

To illuminate the meaning of ICT-based caregiver support as experienced by older family carers living in vast rural areas, caring for a spouse at home.

31

Caregivers in rural areas

65–85

Qualitative, descriptive design: Semi-structured interviews

Gender:

23 women

8 men

Ethnicity:

N/A

Sweden

Blusi, Kristiansen, Jong [21]

To explore how internet-based caregiver support may influence the experience of isolation among older spousal caregivers in rural areas.

31

Older spousal caregivers in rural areas

65–85

Qualitative: Interviews post-intervention

Gender:

23 women

8 men

Ethnicity:

N/A

Sweden

Dam et al. [22]

To describe (1) the development of an online social support intervention titled Inlife; and (2) the evaluation of the feasibility of this intervention and the measurements to assess its effectiveness.

25

Caregivers of persons living with dementia

Mean = 55.9 (SD = 13.9)

Quantitative: Online self-report measures at baseline and at four follow-up time points

Gender:

12 women

13 men

Ethnicity:

N/A

Nether-lands

Darcy, Brunsden, Hill [23]

To explore the use of an online mental health discussion board by informal caregivers.

82

Caregivers of persons living with mental health issues

N/A

Qualitative: Interpretative phenomeno-logical analysis of 487 postings

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

United Kingdom

Diefenbeck, Klemm, & Hayes [24]

To examine content themes emerging from an unstructured, asynchronous online peer support group for family caregivers of persons living with chronic illness.

16

Caregivers of family members living with chronic disease

38–70

Qualitative, descriptive, exploratory design: Qualitative content analysis of the written interactions of the support group members

Gender:

16 women

Ethnicity:

16 White

United States

Fox & Brenner [25]

To provide an overview of the demographics of caregivers in USA and how they use the internet.

860

Caregivers of family members

N/A

Quantitative: Surveys

Gender:

478 women

392 men

Ethnicity:

626 White

104 Black

96 Hispanic

United States

Gage-Bouchard et al. [26]

To examine the nature of support exchanges between parents of pediatric cancer patients as they happen in real-time, naturally occurring interactions on Facebook.

N/A

Caregivers of persons living with cancer

N/A

Qualitative: Content analysis of 12 months of data from 18 publicly available Facebook pages hosted by parents of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

United States

Gage-Bouchard et al. [27]

To examine how cancer caregivers use personal Facebook pages for cancer-related communication.

N/A

Parents of children living with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

N/A

Qualitative: Content analysis of 12 months of data from 18 publicly available Facebook pages hosted by parents of children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

United States

Hansen, Sheehan, Stephenson [28]

To explore the lived experience of caregivers who interact with their loved ones with a life-limiting illness on an illness blog.

9

Caregivers of ill family members

N/A

Qualitative, phenomenolog-ical approach: Semi-structured interviews

Gender:

5 men

4 women

Ethnicity:

N/A

United States

Kim [29]

To utilize a uses and gratifications framework to examine how caregivers of children with Down syndrome use social media to access social support.

100

Caregivers of children living with Down Syndrome

18–29 (n = 8)

30–39 (n = 51)

40–49 (n = 38)

50+

(n = 3)

Mixed-methods: First phase used a cross-sectional survey research design; second phase used thematic content and feature analysis of social media sites

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

United States

Kruk [30]

To explore how the situatedness, multiplicity and fragmentation of story forms and functions enable Alzheimer’s caregivers to invoke categories and project multiple troublesome facets of their identities, which then emerge as meaningful amid interactive engagements in an online support group.

N/A

Caregivers of persons living with Alzheimer’s disease

N/A

Qualitative: Conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis of publicly accessible data (15 forum threads) nested within a UK-based online Alzheimer’s support group

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

Poland

Lichenstein, McDonough, Matura [31]

To gain an understanding of how caregivers of people with pulmonary hypertension are using an online discussion board.

98

Caregivers of persons living with pulmonary hypertension

N/A

Qualitative, descriptive design: Thematic analysis of internet posts on the Pulmonary Hypertension Discussion Board over an 18-month period

Gender:

59 women

18 men

Ethnicity:

N/A

United States

Marziali & Garcia [32]

To examine the impact on dementia caregivers’ experienced stress and health status of 2 Internet-based intervention programs.

91

Caregivers of persons living with dementia

N/A

Quasi-experimental, mixed-methods design: Questionnaires and qualitative analysis on archived video conferencing group sessions, text-based chat forum exchanges and follow-up interviews

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

Canada

McKechnie, Barker, Stott [33]

To examine the impact of a UK-based online support forum for caregivers of persons living with dementia.

61

Caregivers of persons living with dementia

22–86

Mixed-methods: Questionnaires and interviews

Gender:

99 women

18 men

Ethnicity:

112 White British

4 White other

3 Other

United Kingdom

Roffeei, Abdullah, Basar [34]

To investigate the nature and potential benefits of social support for parents/caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders using a content-analysis approach to information exchanged via postings and comments within Facebook autism groups.

N/A

Caregivers of persons living with autism

N/A

Qualitative: Deductive content analysis of 3637 messages from two Facebook autism support group pages

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

Malaysia

Stephen et al. [35]

To report participant and participation characteristics in the pan-Canadian initiative known as CancerChatCanada, and to understand participant perspectives about the quality of communication and professional facilitation, overall satisfaction, and psychosocial benefits and outcomes.

102

Caregivers

Cancer patients

Cancer survivors

25–79

Qualitative: Interviews

Gender:

N/A

Ethnicity:

N/A

Canada

Stjernswärd, Hansson [36]

To explore participants’ use of a Web-based tool, with focus on the forum, and to assess its potential health and psychosocial benefits.

10

Relatives of persons living with depression

18–68

Mixed-methods: Questionnaires and content analysis of forum posts.

Gender:

9 women

1 man

Ethnicity:

N/A

Sweden

Sullivan [37]

To gain insight into the “lived” experiences of an online asthma caregivers support group.

31 posters

796 subscrib-ers

Caregivers of persons living with asthma

N/A

Qualitative: Phenomenolog-ical thematic analysis of archived messages of an online asthma caregiver group

Gender:

31 women

Ethnicity:

N/A

United States

Wasilewski et al. [38]

To explore adult children caregivers’ experiences with online and in-person peer support exchange while caring for an elderly parent.

15

Caregivers who are adult children caregivers of an elderly parent

Mean = 51

(SD = 7.9)

Qualitative, descriptive approach: Semi-structured interviews

Gender:

64 women

7 men

Ethnicity:

N/A

Canada

Wittenberg-Lyles et al. [39]

To show how bereaved individuals experience loss- and restoration-oriented stressors and how they cope with these distinct types of stressors, and to explore the outcomes of participation in a secret Facebook group for bereavement.

16

Bereaved hospice caregivers

Mean = 48.6

(SD = 16.1)

Mixed-methods: Self-reported measures and content analysis of secret Facebook group online communications

Gender:

11 women

5 men

Ethnicity:

15 Caucasian

1 Native American

United States