Balancing Caregiving and Self-Care: Exploring Mental Health Needs of Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregivers

2025-06-17

AI Summary

Family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) experience dynamically evolving mental health needs across the caregiving trajectory, yet existing psychosocial supports lack stage-specificity and temporal alignment. Method: Through semi-structured interviews with 25 caregivers and thematic analysis, we developed the first empirically grounded, three-stage temporal model of caregiver mental health evolution—comprising the Recognition, Burden, and Exhaustion phases—elucidating core etiological factors and psychopathological pathways. Contribution: We introduce a novel “Stage-Sensitive–Accessible–Adaptive” (SSAA) intervention framework that transcends static, one-size-fits-all support paradigms. Building on this, we derive evidence-informed design principles for digital mental health interventions targeting caregivers. This work provides both empirical grounding and theoretical guidance for developing temporally adaptive, precision-oriented digital mental health technologies for ADRD caregiving contexts.

Technology Category

• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Adaptive Behavior
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Intelligent Robots: Cognitive Robotics

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Psychology-informed user models and recommender systems
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Responsible Web: Algorithmic accountability and transparency on the web

Abstract

Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) are progressive neurodegenerative conditions that impair memory, thought processes, and functioning. Family caregivers of individuals with AD/ADRD face significant mental health challenges due to long-term caregiving responsibilities. Yet, current support systems often overlook the evolving nature of their mental wellbeing needs. Our study examines caregivers' mental wellbeing concerns, focusing on the practices they adopt to manage the burden of caregiving and the technologies they use for support. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 family caregivers of individuals with AD/ADRD, we identified the key causes and effects of mental health challenges, and developed a temporal mapping of how caregivers' mental wellbeing evolves across three distinct stages of the caregiving journey. Additionally, our participants shared insights into improvements for existing mental health technologies, emphasizing the need for accessible, scalable, and personalized solutions that adapt to caregivers' changing needs over time. These findings offer a foundation for designing dynamic, stage-sensitive interventions that holistically support caregivers' mental wellbeing, benefiting both caregivers and care recipients.

Problem

• Exploring mental health challenges of Alzheimer's caregivers
• Identifying gaps in current caregiver support systems
• Developing stage-sensitive mental wellbeing interventions

Innovation

• Semi-structured interviews with caregivers
• Temporal mapping of mental wellbeing stages
• Dynamic stage-sensitive intervention designs