Technology Caregiving: Reframing How Older Adults Are Supported in Everyday Digital Activities

As everyday activities—such as banking, healthcare, and transportation—shift to digital platforms, older adults often require assistance to navigate these systems. While this help is frequently labeled as IT support, the authors argue that this framing is inadequate. IT support is typically episodic, transactional, and focused on fixing a product. In contrast, the help older adults receive is often ongoing, relational, and aimed at preserving their functional independence. The authors introduce the term "technology caregiving" to reframe this practice as a form of care work, similar to traditional caregiving for physical or instrumental activities of daily living.

To characterize this practice, the authors propose a framework consisting of four dimensions:

• Why (Purpose): The need for support, categorized as motivational, instructional, remedial, or delegation.
• Who (Source): The provider of support, identified as formal (professionals), informal (family/friends), or self-reliant (using tools).
• When (Timing): The stage of technology use, ranging from pre-adoption to continued use.
• How (Delivery): The structure (structured vs. unstructured) and modality (collocated, remote, or hybrid) of the assistance.

Support is always mediated by an artifact—such as a social relationship, a physical notebook of steps, or a computational tool—that carries the help to the older adult.

Applying this framework to 36 empirical studies, the authors found that technology caregiving is a pervasive, often invisible, and frequently burdensome labor. Unlike traditional caregiving, which is shaped by the care recipient's health, technology caregiving is uniquely shaped by the digital environment. Rapid system updates, changing interfaces, and evolving account requirements mean that the work is rarely finished. The study highlights that while technology caregiving can be rewarding, it often imposes significant emotional and time-related burdens on both the caregiver and the older adult, who may feel shame or anxiety about needing help.