CareMirror supports dementia caregiver wellbeing with connected tools
CareMirror: Bringing Caregiver Wellbeing into the Dementia Care Ecosystem
Human-Computer InteractionArtificial IntelligenceComputation and LanguageComputers and Society
Summary
Taking care of people with dementia is hard and can affect the health and feelings of family caregivers. The authors created CareMirror, a set of tools that help caregivers think about their wellbeing over time and share certain information with doctors if they want. Caregivers liked getting personal support and having their wellbeing noticed by clinicians, but they wanted control over what is shared and worried about the emotional cost of repeated reflection. They also hoped AI could help but still keep caregivers and doctors fully involved.
What this means in practice
- •For clinical care teams: Integrate caregiver wellbeing data tools to tailor follow-up and support for families of dementia patients during clinical visits.
- •For health technology developers: Design caregiver support apps that emphasize privacy controls and AI-assisted reflection without replacing human judgment.
Authors
Jiayue Melissa Shi, Ethan Nguyen, Drishti Goel, Upasana Natarajan, Shashwat Srivatsa, Daniel S. Brown, Violeta J. Rodríguez, Dong Whi Yoo, Ravi Karkar, Koustuv Saha
Abstract
Family caregivers of people living with dementia shoulder emotional and practical responsibilities, yet their own wellbeing often remains peripheral to dementia care. We built CareMirror, an envisioned caregiver wellbeing ecosystem with interconnected caregiver- and clinician-facing interfaces for longitudinal reflection, personalized support, and caregiver-controlled sharing with clinical care. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 14 caregivers, using CareMirror as a design probe to examine how they perceived this ecosystem and what expectations, concerns, and boundaries emerged around clinical connection. Caregivers valued attention to their wellbeing, longitudinal awareness, context-sensitive support, and clinical visibility when it could lead to meaningful follow-up. However, repeated reflection could become burdensome or emotionally difficult, automatic clinical sharing could inhibit candid disclosure, and participants wanted control over what information entered clinical care. They also expected AI to support reflection and communication without replacing caregiver voice or clinician judgment. We contribute design considerations for proactive, clinically connected caregiver wellbeing support.