A Blessing and a Challenge: Unpacking Boundary Ambiguities Experienced by Caregivers of Older Adults

Stepping into a caregiving role for an aging loved one often means navigating conflicting demands of daily life. While prior Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) research has investigated tools to support the logistics of caregiving, less attention has been directed to boundaries: how caregivers manage them alongside other obligations. Through 15 semi-structured interviews with caregivers of older adults, we unpack caregivers’ boundary negotiation, examining how caregivers use boundaries to manage multiple responsibilities and how uncertainty about their roles shapes boundary negotiation. Employing “boundary ambiguity” as an analytical lens, our findings reveal how caregivers use strategies of internal reframing—how they think about their roles—and external negotiation—how they interact with others—to manage their unstable, permeable, and elastic boundaries in everyday life. We discuss how inherent, ongoing boundary ambiguity shapes caregivers’ experiences, concluding with design implications for digital technologies that enhance caregivers’ agency and support boundary negotiations for caregivers and care recipients.