TY  - JOUR
AU  - Leong, Qiao Ying
AU  - Lee, V Vien
AU  - Ng, Wei Ying
AU  - Vijayakumar, Smrithi
AU  - Lau, Ni Yin
AU  - Mauritzon, Ingela
AU  - Blasiak, Agata
AU  - Ho, Dean
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/11/11
TI  - Older Adults’ Perspectives and Experiences With Digital Health in Singapore: Qualitative Study
JO  - JMIR Hum Factors
SP  - e58641
VL  - 11
KW  - digital health
KW  - gerontology
KW  - geriatrics
KW  - elder
KW  - aging
KW  - Singapore
KW  - qualitative
KW  - mHealth
KW  - mobile health
KW  - experience
KW  - technology use
KW  - interview
KW  - perspective
KW  - acceptance
KW  - technology adoption
AB  - Background: Technology use among older adults is increasingly common. Even though there is potential in leveraging technology to help them manage their health, only a small fraction of them use it for health-related purposes. Objective: This study seeks to understand the perspectives of and experiences with digital health (DH) among older adults in Singapore. Methods: A total of 16 participants (age range 60-80 years; n=11, 69% female) were interviewed for approximately an hour (range 27-64 minutes) about their health, DH use, and DH experiences. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically analyzed. Results: Five main themes emerged from the interview: support in developing DH literacy, credibility, cost and benefit considerations, intrinsic drive to be healthy, and telehealth. Older adults need support in familiarizing themselves with DH. When considering DH options, older adults often relied on credible sources and preferred DH to be free. Monetary incentives were brought up as motivators. The intrinsic drive to live longer and healthily was expressed to be a huge encouragement to use DH to help obtain health-related knowledge and achieve healthy living goals. The idea of telehealth was also appealing among older adults but was seen to be more suited for individuals who have issues accessing a physical clinic. Conclusions: Our findings offer insights into the various aspects that matter to older adults in the adoption of DH, which in turn can help reshape their health-seeking behavior and lifestyle. As such, policy makers and DH implementors are encouraged to take these into consideration and align their strategies accordingly. 
SN  - 2292-9495
UR  - https://humanfactors.jmir.org/2024/1/e58641
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2196/58641
DO  - 10.2196/58641
ID  - info:doi/10.2196/58641
ER  -