Understanding Digital Literacy of Persons With Dementia and Their Caregivers: A Scoping Review and an Evolutionary Concept Analysis of Empirical Studies

This study constitutes both a scoping review and a concept analysis, as it systematically examines digital literacy across settings (home, assisted living facilities, and other long-term care facilities) in the context of persons with dementia and their caregivers. We performed a scoping review of 22 empirical studies to examine how the literature has defined digital literacy in dementia care, followed by a concept analysis to conceptualize digital literacy’s antecedents, attributes, and consequences. Our analysis revealed three antecedents of digital literacy: technology-enhanced support systems, individual characteristics, and sociodemographic characteristics, which collectively impact persons with dementia and their caregivers’ abilities to utilize digital resources effectively. We identified two critical attributes-technological skills and critical thinking skills-to evaluate digital health information. Our findings revealed that digital literacy is tied to several important consequences: technology acceptance, impacts on psychosocial factors, and the promotion of digital equity. These findings provide a foundation for future research that can incorporate the core components of digital literacy when designing technology-mediated interventions. While our findings conceptualized digital literacy among persons living with dementia and their caregivers, more research is needed to promote standardized terminology and consider the digital literacy level of end-users in developing technology-mediated interventions in the future.