Table 1.

Characteristics of information resources and interactive services.

Resources and services		Characteristics
Information resources
	Caring for the older person	Symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments of the 10 most common chronic conditions Long-term care services at country level Environmental security
	Your own needs	Coping strategies Reconciliation with family and work Physical exercise
	Support by the state	Legal issues (eg, responsibility, rights, and competency) Economic and social insurance benefits
	Get help	Contacts for crisis or emergency List of relevant nonprofit associations List of other Web-based support programs
Interactive services
	Social network	Channel: asynchronous group communication Possible user’s tasks: to see and read other caregivers’ profiles and posts; to post, comment, and share information and multimedia on personal and others’ walls Moderator’s role: to post regularly, both useful information (from the Web and the information resources area) and emotional statements; to interact with users by commenting on their posts and periodically leaving messages on their walls
	Forum	Channel: asynchronous group communication Possible user’s tasks: to open discussion threads on personal doubts and requests; to comment on others’ open threads Moderator’s role: to stimulate interactions by opening new discussion threads and/or commenting appropriately on users’ threads and comments
	Private messages/emails	Channel: asynchronous interpersonal or group communication Possible user’s tasks: to ask for direct support from the moderator; to contact other users Moderator’s role: to monitor and support users by sending periodical or ad hoc messages
	Chat and videochat/ videocommunication tools	Channel: synchronous interpersonal or group communication Possible user’s tasks: to ask for direct support from the moderator; to contact other users Moderator’s role: to support users by participating in individual or group discussions
Additional structured services (country specific)
	E-learning course and virtual desk (Italy)	E-learning: multimedia training units with a focus on caregiving activities and long-term care services Virtual desk: weekly availability of moderator and other psychologists via chat, videochat, and forum for providing individual support
	Writing tasks in forum (Sweden)	Biweekly writing exercises alternating time management and emotional writing, managed by the moderator
	Videoconferencing groups (Germany)	Two weekly videoconferencing groups with three family caregivers each, managed by the moderator