Physical Activity, Social Support, and the Health of Dementia Caregivers: A Scoping Review

There has been an international effort to improve the quality of care available to persons living with dementia and their caregivers. As such, research has emphasized the importance of community-based interventions designed to help mitigate some of the health effects associated with caregiving. Physical activity and social support are two elements with the potential to enhance caregivers' health and may be beneficial to include when designing and implementing interventions. Thus, to inform implementation and future research, this scoping review sought to describe and identify what is already known about physical activity and/or social support and dementia caregivers' physical, mental and social well-being. To do this, we followed Arksey and O'Malley's framework for scoping reviews. Five databases (SPORTdiscus, CINAHL, PubMed, MEDLINE, PsychINFO) were searched in October 2022 and again in February 2024, and July 2025. Covidence was used to organize all relevant studies, and two researchers independently reviewed all articles. Knowledge users (dementia caregivers & community program providers) (n = 4) were also consulted during a focus group to determine if their lived experiences aligned with the findings. Thirty-four studies met the inclusion criteria. Ten studies examined physical activity; 14 studies examined social support; and 10 studies examined interventions inclusive of physical activity and social support. Regardless of intervention type, the most common finding was participation increased caregivers' mental well-being. No difference in physical or mental health outcomes were found between in-person and online interventions. Participation in joint reminiscence therapy was the only intervention to result in a decrease in health. All knowledge users agreed with this finding. From this review it is evident that participation in PA and/or social support is beneficial for the physical, mental and social well-being of dementia caregivers. The findings from this review may help to inform the development and improvement of community-based interventions for this population.