Scoping review of AI–chatbots to support family caregivers.
Background and Objectives Family caregivers face elevated risks for mental and physical health issues but have difficulty accessing informational and supportive resources. Chat-based artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as chatbots using large language models (LLMs), may offer scalable, personal...
| Publicado en: | Gerontologist Vol. 66; no. 7; pp. 1 - 27 |
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| Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
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Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195281400&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195281400 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00169013 GET jtl: Gerontologist issn: 00169013 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 66 iid: 7 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195281400 10.1093/geront/gnag028 ppf: 1 ppct: 26 formats: tig: atl: Scoping review of AI–chatbots to support family caregivers. aug: au: Gallagher, Virginia Sheehan, Christina Ahmad, Abeera Ansari, Shahina Mohd Azam Arp, Anna Bell, Sophie Brown, Donald Cruise, Allison Greth, Zach Greer, Sarah Rodock affil: Department of Neurology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States Brain Institute, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States School of Data Science, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States su: Artificial intelligence Caregivers Communication Psychology of caregivers Health education Social support Medical information storage & retrieval systems Health information services CINAHL database Clinical decision support systems Services for caregivers Systematic reviews MEDLINE Online information services Individualized medicine Chatbots Caregiver attitudes sug: subj: Artificial intelligence Caregivers Communication Psychology of caregivers Health education Social support Other Individual and Family Services Medical information storage & retrieval systems Health information services CINAHL database Clinical decision support systems Services for caregivers Systematic reviews MEDLINE Online information services Individualized medicine Chatbots Caregiver attitudes keyword: Care partner caregivers Caregiving Chatbot chatbots ChatGPT copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnag028 inLanguage:en LLM publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41849436/ Care partner caregivers Caregiving Chatbot chatbots ChatGPT copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnag028 inLanguage:en LLM publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41849436/ ab: Background and Objectives Family caregivers face elevated risks for mental and physical health issues but have difficulty accessing informational and supportive resources. Chat-based artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as chatbots using large language models (LLMs), may offer scalable, personalized support. This scoping review maps the existing literature on chatbots for family caregivers. Research Design and Methods Following our preregistered protocol and following the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) checklist, we searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CINAHL (January–February 2025) for English-language, peer-reviewed articles on AI/chatbots and caregivers. Eligibility included any article on the use of a chatbot in the caregiving context. Screening and data extraction were performed in duplicate using Covidence. Articles were charted by article type ((1) existing chatbots [e.g. ChatGPT] applied to caregiving context; (2) new chatbots developed for caregiving context; (3) "other" article types) and synthesized narratively. Results Of 505 records screened, 30 met inclusion criteria. Seventeen evaluated existing chatbots (primarily ChatGPT), nine described development of new chatbots, and four were commentaries, reviews, or qualitative studies. Most focused on dementia or cancer caregiving. The majority of new or existing chatbot articles focused on provision of informational support, and less often on emotional support or local resources. Chatbot evaluations were typically conducted by experts assessing response accuracy and readability; few reported evaluations by caregivers. Discussion and Implications Evidence suggests that chatbots provide largely accurate, accessible caregiving-related information, though findings for emotional support and safety were limited and mixed. Research remains early-stage, with no randomized controlled trials. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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