This article proposes an intervention from the field of social sciences to improve the knowledge of informal caregivers about care for the elderly. We analyze the social and cultural relationships that support the informal care culture in Spain. Some of the most important factors that are an obstacle to the professionalization of the sector are presented. The profiles of the informal caregivers are established, highlighting that most of them are women, whether they are family members or not. Furthermore, we find a prominent role of immigrant women in the non-professional care sector. We also analyzed the different relationships that groups related to informal care of the elderly have with technologies, highlighting mobile phones and instant messaging applications. With this result, we proposed the public policies of care for the elderly to contemplate training actions transmitted through the mobile phone and messaging applications.

Spanish society, as in other developed countries, is experiencing remarkable aging. The prolongation of longevity results in the existence of an increasing number of dependent older adults. Likewise, in the field of technology, outstanding advances are being made to improve the lives of the elderly. This article analyzes the relationship between the Spanish long-term care system for the elderly and technology. We identify the most relevant issues related to the long-term care system in Spain: the "familist" model of the Welfare State, the multilevel model of the LTC system, and the impact of the Long-Term Care Law and the 2008 crisis, and the informal caregivers of the elderly. We contrast each of these topics with proposals from the scientific and institutional fields related to technologies. Moreover, we establish some possible research lines related to the long-term care system for the elderly with technologies.