Impact of assistive technologies on caregiver burden and perseverance for people with dementia at home

• AT use was limited and AT type used varied by caregiver living arrangement. • Most used ATs: daily living support and risk prevention; risk response least used. • Daily living support ATs linked to fewer care hours. • Risk prevention ATs tied to longer PT, higher CarerQol-7D, and lower SRB scores. • Daily support and risk response ATs most likely to extend PT by over six months. This study examines the relationship between the use of assistive technologies and the burden and perseverance time of informal caregivers of community-dwelling people with dementia. An online survey of 342 informal caregivers in the Netherlands assessed objective burden (tasks and time involved in caregiving), subjective burden (personal experience of stress and strain), current perseverance time (time expected to be able to continue providing care), and well-being (overall happiness). Data included demographics, housing, neighbourhood characteristics, assistive technology use, and preferences for additional technologies. Multiple logistic regressions examined associations between assistive technology categories and caregiver outcomes (i.e., below-median weekly caregiving hours, Self-Rated Burden score; above-median CarerQol-7D score, CarerQol-VAS score, and Current Perseverance Time in months). Furthermore, multiple logistic regressions estimated the impact of the most desired technology category on the likelihood of extending the perseverance time by more than six months. Analyses were stratified by caregiver living arrangement (co-residing vs living nearby). Among co-residing caregivers, daily living support technologies were associated with reduced caregiving hours, whereas risk prevention technologies were linked to longer current perseverance time but also higher self-rated burden. Risk response technologies were also associated with higher self-rated burden. Among caregivers living nearby, risk prevention technologies were associated with higher quality of life. Moreover, daily living support and risk response technologies most strongly extended perseverance time beyond six months in both groups. Assistive technologies play a nuanced role in supporting informal caregivers of community-dwelling people with dementia, with impacts differing by living arrangement and technology type.