Smith Matthew Lee, Lee Shinduk, Neelamegam Malinee, Vollmer Dahlke Deborah, Southerland Jodi L, Baker Zachary G, Ma Kris Pui Kwan, Petrovsky Darina V, Rahemi Zahra, Sefcik Justine S, Bacsu Juanita-Dawne R, Kew Chung Lin, Ory Marcia G
Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States.
Center for Community Health and Aging, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States.
Front Public Health. 2025 May 14;13:1578701. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1578701. eCollection 2025.
Technological advancements have the potential to improve caregiving quality and alleviate caregiver burden by providing tools for real-time communication, monitoring, and care coordination. To assist with technology adoption among the 53 million unpaid caregivers nationwide, efforts are needed to better understand caregivers' perceptions about the usefulness of certain technologies for caregiving.
Data were analyzed from a national sample of 483 unpaid caregivers using an internet-delivered questionnaire. All unpaid caregivers were eligible if they provided at least 8 h of weekly care for a care recipient aged 50 years or older. The primary dependent variable was the Perceived Technology Usefulness for Caregiving (PTUC) Scale, which is a composite score of six items ranging from 0 to 100. PTUC item responses were summed and averaged, and the overall PTUC scores were transformed into statistical tertiles (higher scores indicating more perceived technology usefulness for caregiving). An ordinal regression model was fitted to identify factors associated with higher PTUC tertiles.
Across tertiles, unpaid caregivers who were younger (Beta = -0.018, = 0.030) and male (Beta = 0.422, = 0.048) reported higher PTUC Scale scores. Compared to non-Hispanic white caregivers, Hispanic/Latino (Beta = 0.779, = 0.010), African American (Beta = 1.064, < 0.001), and Asian (Beta = 0.958, p = 0.010) caregivers reported higher PTUC Scale scores. Unpaid caregivers with lower financial insecurity (Beta = -0.010, = 0.003), higher caregiver strain (Beta = 0.149, p < 0.001), and more satisfaction with the support they receive for caregiving (Beta = 0.009, = 0.002) reported higher PTUC Scale scores. Unpaid caregivers whose care recipients had less cognitive impairment reported higher PTUC Scale scores (Beta = -0.245, = 0.048).
Findings indicate caregiver characteristics, caregiving dynamics, and available resources (financial and caregiving support) are associated with perceptions about the usefulness of technology for caregiving. The utility of technology for caregiving may be higher among unpaid caregivers with more caregiver strain or positive experiences with caregiving support.
技术进步有可能通过提供实时通信、监测和护理协调工具来提高护理质量并减轻护理人员负担。为了帮助全国5300万无偿护理人员采用技术，需要做出努力以更好地了解护理人员对某些技术在护理方面有用性的看法。
使用通过互联网发放的问卷对全国483名无偿护理人员的样本数据进行分析。所有无偿护理人员若每周为50岁及以上的受护理者提供至少8小时护理则符合条件。主要因变量是护理技术感知有用性（PTUC）量表，这是一个由六个项目组成的综合得分，范围从0到100。对PTUC项目的回答进行求和并求平均值，总体PTUC得分被转换为统计三分位数（得分越高表明对护理技术的感知有用性越高）。拟合一个有序回归模型以确定与较高PTUC三分位数相关的因素。
在各个三分位数中，年龄较小（β = -0.018，P = 0.030）和男性（β = 0.422，P = 0.048）的无偿护理人员报告的PTUC量表得分较高。与非西班牙裔白人护理人员相比，西班牙裔/拉丁裔（β = 0.779，P = 0.010）、非裔美国人（β = 1.064，P < 0.001）和亚裔（β = 0.958，P = 0.010）护理人员报告的PTUC量表得分较高。经济不安全感较低（β = -0.010，P = 0.003）、护理人员压力较高（β = 0.149，P < 0.001）以及对所获得的护理支持更满意（β = 0.009，P = 0.002）的无偿护理人员报告的PTUC量表得分较高。护理对象认知障碍较少的无偿护理人员报告的PTUC量表得分较高（β = -0.245，P = 0.048）。
研究结果表明护理人员特征、护理动态以及可用资源（经济和护理支持）与对技术在护理方面有用性的看法相关。在护理人员压力较大或在护理支持方面有积极体验的无偿护理人员中，技术在护理方面的效用可能更高。
