Use of Digital Tools and Environmental Practices Among Informal Caregivers of Older Adults in the European Union Embracing the Triple Transition: Cross-Sectional Study

Background The European Union is currently facing a demographic, digital, and environmental transition collectively known as the triple transition. Although these trends significantly impact long-term care services, they have typically been studied in isolation, overlooking potential synergies between the adoption of digital tools and environmental practices among informal caregivers of older adults. This study uniquely bridges this gap by applying an integrative social-ecological-infrastructural systems framework to examine how these transitions interact in everyday caregiving contexts. Objective This study examined the relationship between the use of digital tools and eco-friendly practices among informal caregivers of older adults across the European Union and whether the adoption of digital solutions related differently to specific types of eco-friendly behaviors. Unlike previous research focusing on isolated aspects of each transition, we examined their interconnections, providing empirical evidence for developing integrated policy approaches. Methods Using data from the Survey of Gender Gaps in Unpaid Care, Individual and Social Activities project (n=5761 informal caregivers of adults aged ≥65 years), we analyzed the association between frequency of use of digital tools for caregiving and environmental practices. We used the social-ecological-infrastructural systems conceptual framework and the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to interpret findings. Analyses included descriptive statistics, Spearman correlations, and multilevel mixed-effects regression models. Results A weak positive association was observed between the frequency of use of digital tools and environmentally sustainable behaviors (ρ=0.28; P <.001). Among individual behaviors, the largest associations were observed for consumption-related behaviors (fair-trade products: ρ=0.30; used items: ρ=0.30; eco-friendly products: ρ=0.25), whereas the associations were weaker for waste management and transportation choices and were not statistically significant for recycling (ρ=−0.04; P =.23) and mindful consumption of natural resources (ρ=−0.02; P >.99). Respondents using digital tools daily had scores of environmentally sustainable behavior (SESBs) 22% higher than nonusers. Demographic patterns revealed higher use of digital tools among younger, more educated, and employed caregivers, indicating that any potential digital-environmental co-occurrence may be unevenly distributed across the caregiver population. Conclusions The use of digital tools may be related to environmental behavior through improved access to information, peer norms, and a greater perceived ability to act, though these mechanisms were not directly tested. The stronger associations with consumption-related behaviors indicate that digital platforms may be particularly relevant to caregivers’ access to eco-friendly products, second-hand goods, fair-trade options, and sustainable local services. By contrast, the lack of statistically significant correlations with recycling and resource conservation suggests that digital solutions alone may be insufficient to address behaviors that depend on structural conditions, physical infrastructure, local service availability, or established household routines. Policies should consider digital inclusion, caregiver support, and green infrastructure as interconnected areas while ensuring that older, less educated, and more burdened caregivers are not excluded from these potential co-benefits.