Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

The number of hip replacements is increasing by about 20% every 5 years. In 2017, about 7K of these surgeries were performed in British Columbia. In most cases, patients are discharged from the hospital in less than 2 days, leaving a majority of aftercare responsibilities to family caregivers who often receive little medical education. Education before surgery (prehab) aims to improve a patient's experiences and outcomes after surgery and reduce healthcare costs. However, prehab focuses on educating patients and not their family caregivers. Family caregivers are often unable to attend these educational classes due to barriers such as lack of time and travel costs. Since family caregivers are the main care providers after the surgery, it is essential to address their educational needs and provide prehab in an accessible online format. This study will investigate the educational needs of family caregivers and will develop and assess the usability of an eHealth tool that provide prehab to family caregivers.