ElderTech: Digital Health Divide
Updated: May 3
Older people are adopting new technology faster than many realize. But are ageist beliefs limiting their opportunities?
Older adults adapted to digital health technologies rapidly during the pandemic. Now that the pandemic has passed they continue to be fast adopters of digital health and telemedicine services. An unexpected limiting factor has been ageism.
A recent study from published in the National Library of Medicine cites ageism as a limiting factor. Simply put many healthcare professionals underestimate the speed and readiness older adults possess in terms of adapting to these new technologies.
Factors cited as limiting factors:
A lack of training for clinicians on how to introduce technology to older patients.
Older adults are excluded from studies and trials of digital health products.
A lack of research on how to increase adoption of digital health amongst older adults.
Are older adults at risk of being "left behind" in digital health? What can be done to increase their access to digital health services of the future?