As more care and coordination moves online, caregivers report low confidence in their digital health literacy, with implications for their own health.
FAIRFAX , VA, UNITED STATES, February 25, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Family caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are increasingly expected to manage care through a screen. But nearly half of family caregivers lack confidence in their ability to find and use digital health resources, according to new national research from the George Mason University College of Public Health.
Published in SAGE Open Aging, the study stands in contrast to how frequently caregivers now orchestrate care online: logging onto patient portals, scheduling telehealth visits, checking test results, refilling medications, and so on. Yet the findings suggest that regularly seeking health information online does not automatically translate into confidence navigating digital health tools.
“This gap reveals that simply accessing information online does not always equip individuals with the skills or confidence needed to use broader digital health resources,” said nursing professor Kyeung Mi Oh, who led the study. “We saw that some activities appear to build caregivers’ confidence in their digital literacy, while others appear to undermine it.”
Researchers found that tools that are self-directed and easier to navigate, like health and wellness apps, were associated with higher confidence. More complex tasks, particularly those that require managing digital systems on behalf of another person, were linked to lower confidence.
Why this matters
While digital health tools are generally designed to streamline care, the findings suggest that added complexity and responsibility can introduce new hesitations or confusions that chip away at confidence.
The study also points to a broader implication: digital self-efficacy may impact caregivers’ ability to care for themselves.
“We saw that caregivers who feel less confident in their digital literacy are also less confident in their ability to take good care of themselves,” Oh said. “That has significant implications for long-term health and burnout.”
A closer look at the study findings
Nearly half of dementia caregivers reported low confidence in their ability to find and use helpful digital health resources, despite widespread use of tools such as patient portals, provider messaging, and online health searches.
Using health or wellness apps on smartphones or tablets showed the strongest association with confidence in navigating digital health resources.
Activities that required managing digital systems for a care recipient, including telehealth visits and patient portal use on another person’s behalf, were associated with lower confidence.
Confidence varied significantly by age, gender, income, education, and caregiving role. Older caregivers, women, caregivers with lower socioeconomic status, and adult children caring for parents were less likely to feel confident, even when reporting similar levels of digital tool use.
Caregivers who felt more confident using digital health resources were also more likely to feel confident managing their own health.
The interdisciplinary study team also included Sungsoo Ray Hong, assistant professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology at George Mason, and Krista Beran, a PhD student in nursing at George Mason.
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MEDIA INQUIRIES: For reporters who wish to speak to Amira Roess about measles or other emerging diseases, please email media contact Michelle Thompson at mthomp7@gmu.edu.
Amira Roess is a professor of global health and epidemiology at George Mason University’s College of Public Health, Department of Global and Community Health. She served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the CDC (a disease detective). She is an epidemiologist with expertise in infectious diseases epidemiology, multidisciplinary and multi-species field research and evaluating interventions to reduce the transmission and impact of infectious diseases. Roess oversees several longitudinal studies to understand emergence and transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases globally, including the emergence and transmission of Campylobacter (with support from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), MERS-CoV (with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation), and the development of the microbiome during the first year of life. She studies links between food animal production and emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases emergence globally, and the effects of human and animal encounters on health and well-being. You may find more information about her research here.
About George Mason University
George Mason University is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls more than 40,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity, and commitment to accessibility. In 2023, the university launched Mason Now: Power the Possible, a one-billion-dollar comprehensive campaign to support student success, research, innovation, community, and stewardship. Learn more at gmu.edu.
About College of Public Health at George Mason University
The College of Public Health at George Mason University is the first College of Public Health in Virginia and a national leader in inclusive, interprofessional, public health research, education, and practice. The college is comprised of public health disciplines, health administration and policy, informatics, nursing, nutrition, and social work. The college offers a distinct array of degrees to support research and training of professionals dedicated to ensuring health and well-being for all. The college’s transdisciplinary research seeks to understand the many factors that influence the public’s health and well-being throughout the lifespan.
The college enrolls more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,300 graduate students in our nationally recognized programs, including 5 undergraduate degrees, 7 master’s degrees, and 4 doctoral degrees, and 10 certificate programs. Our graduates are uniquely prepared to thrive in an increasingly multicultural, multidisciplinary, community-focused public health landscape.
Mary Cunningham
George Mason University College of Public Health
+1 703-993-1931
mcunni7@gmu.edu
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