Dementia caregivers and technology acceptance: Interest outstrips awareness

Issue The demographic aging boom has drastically increased the prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or dementia in the United States, which in turn means a greater demand for family caregivers. The disease’s toll weighs heavily on caregivers and their loved ones, and the strains continue to grow as the disease progresses. New technologies include tools that may ease the care burden or address other unmet needs. Despite the potential for these technologies, however, they are not widely used. Many previous studies examining technology use among caregivers have focused primarily on one factor - acceptance - as a dichotomous variable. Method This research addresses a more complex reality and explores caregivers’ awareness of existing technologies and perceptions of emerging technologies to understand acceptance, drawing on 34 in-depth interviews with caregivers. Results u0026 Discussion The results indicate that caregiver awareness of many newer existing technologies was relatively low, but that they did have interest in using emerging technologies to support with care. Interest in these newer technologies was strongly correlated with caregivers’ perceptions of the usefulness of these technologies. The results point to the need for better communication to caregivers about the technologies that exist to assist with care and, in particular, how these technologies may be beneficial. This may be especially critical because some technologies are more likely to be useful to caregivers at different stages of the disease. Early information and education about available technologies may be essential in helping caregivers to plan and prepare to adopt new technologies as they need them.