Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (AD/ADRD) are progressive neurodegenerative conditions that impair memory, thought processes, and functioning. Family caregivers of individuals with AD/ADRD face significant mental health challenges due to long-term caregiving responsibilities. Yet, current support systems often overlook the evolving nature of their mental wellbeing needs. Our study examines caregivers' mental wellbeing concerns, focusing on the practices they adopt to manage the burden of caregiving and the technologies they use for support. Through semi-structured interviews with 25 family caregivers of individuals with AD/ADRD, we identified the key causes and effects of mental health challenges, and developed a temporal mapping of how caregivers' mental wellbeing evolves across three distinct stages of the caregiving journey. Additionally, our participants shared insights into improvements for existing mental health technologies, emphasizing the need for accessible, scalable, and personalized solutions that adapt to caregivers' changing needs over time. These findings offer a foundation for designing dynamic, stage-sensitive interventions that holistically support caregivers' mental wellbeing, benefiting both caregivers and care recipients.

翻译：阿尔茨海默病及相关痴呆症（AD/ADRD）是一类进行性神经退行性疾病，会损害记忆、思维过程和功能。AD/ADRD患者的家庭照护者因长期承担照护责任而面临显著的心理健康挑战。然而，当前的支持体系往往忽视了其心理健康需求的动态演变特性。本研究考察了照护者的心理健康关切点，重点关注他们为应对照护负担所采取的策略以及所使用的支持技术。通过对25名AD/ADRD患者家庭照护者进行半结构化访谈，我们识别了心理健康挑战的主要成因与影响，并绘制了照护者在照护历程三个不同阶段中心理健康状况如何演变的时间图谱。此外，参与者分享了关于改进现有心理健康技术的见解，强调需要可及、可扩展且个性化的解决方案，以适应照护者随时间变化的需求。这些发现为设计动态的、阶段敏感性的干预措施奠定了基础，从而全方位支持照护者的心理健康，使照护者与受照护者共同受益。