Unpaid carers’ experiences of supporting people with dementia to use social media

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore unpaid carers’ experiences of supporting people with dementia to use social media.Methods: Unpaid carers (n = 234) responded to an online survey about their attitudes towards people with dementia using social media and any experiences supporting this usage. Responses to closed questions were analysed using frequency analysis; qualitative data were analysed thematically.Results: Fifty-five carers (23.5%) cared for someone with dementia who used social media. Thematic analysis produced four themes: (1) carers as social media navigators; (2) social media supports care; (3) carers as social media guardians; and (4) labour-intensive work. Carers valued the social connectivity and stimulation social media provided but remained vigilant about online safety. They carefully managed the online experiences of people with dementia, balancing perceived benefits with safety, security, and caring demands.Conclusions: These findings shed light on the complexities of caring in the digital age. Many carers are supporting people with dementia in using social media, but there is little guidance on how best to do this. As older adults continue to embrace social media, carers, support organisations, and policymakers must adapt and work with technology developers to ensure safe and supportive online experiences.

Keywords:

• Alzheimer
• online
• communication
• social networking
• cognitive impairment
• older adults
• caregivers

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all participants for taking part in our survey.

CRediT author statement

Catherine V. Talbot: conceptualisation; methodology; formal analysis; investigation; writing – original draft; writing – review and editing; supervision; project administration; funding acquisition; Daisy Roe: formal analysis; data curation; writing – original draft; writing – review and editing; Joel G. Anderson: conceptualisation; methodology; writing – review and editing; funding acquisition; Warren J. Donnellan: conceptualisation; methodology; writing – review and editing; funding acquisition; Samantha A. Wilson: methodology; writing – review and editing; Siobhan T. O’Dwyer: methodology; writing – review and editing

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the British Academy (ID: SRG22\220836).