Social Aspects of ESG in Higher Education: Family Caregiving University Students in the Digital Era

The care provided by family members to the elderly or chronically ill loved ones is gaining increasing importance in ageing societies. University students caring for family members may have increased emotional and academic career risks due to their caregiving tasks. In line with the environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiatives, social sustainability is crucial for higher education institutions. Hence developing university strategies to identify and support family caregiving students at risk, understanding their preparedness to use digital health technologies in homecare, and investigate how innovative digital solutions can be used to support them, are urgent challenges of higher education in the digital age. We present a small exploratory study from Hungary in which care- and health-related quality of life, and capability well-being of caregiving university students (N=15; mean age 32.6 years) were assessed with standard measurement tools. Caregivers' and care recipients' digital knowledge, habits, access to and use of IT technologies were recorded. Our study highlights important areas for interventions and further research, and the usefulness of using standard quality of life measurement tools in this area.