Counselling approaches to assistive technologies in nursing care for people with dementia - A focus group study with informal carers Background: Assistive technologies may support caregiving relatives of people with dementia. Presently, counselling and training courses are lacking as well as concrete considerations for didactic and methodical implementation.To convey the perspectives of caring relatives on the development of knowledge and competences in assistive technologies.Six interview-guided focus groups with 46 caring relatives of people with dementia were conducted. For analysis the documentary method was applied.Assistive technologies currently do not seem to play a role in care-relevant information and counselling structures. The early development of competences as part of a guided support process is explicitly requested by caregiving relatives. The respondents favoured to try out assistive technologies, e. g. by moderated test possibilities.The interviewed caregiving relatives consider the existing approaches to get access to assistive technologies as inadequate. Access to knowledge and competence development of caregiving relatives must be more clearly integrated into the design of the care process. Counselling formats focusing on experience, reflection and usage of assistive technologies might be the didactic basis of structured competence achievement for sustainable integration of useful technologies in daily nursing care.