JMIR Aging

People aged 60 years and older represent a rapidly growing population worldwide. Aging is associated with complex health and social needs, and quality of life is influenced by multiple factors, including access to health care services, caregiver support, social participation, and community engagement. Digital health interventions (DHIs), such as mobile apps and wearables, have the potential to support some of these needs. However, their adoption among older adults remains limited, partly due to usability and accessibility barriers, and insufficient consideration of inclusive design principles.

Maintaining functional ability is essential for healthy aging. The Five Times Chair Rise Test (5CRT) is widely used to assess lower-extremity function, yet conventional stopwatch timing provides limited insight into movement quality and compensatory strategies. Sensor-based biomechanics combined with machine learning (ML) enables detailed analysis of movement dynamics and supports digital health approaches for early detection and monitoring of functional decline. However, the clinical relevance of ML-based 5CRT movement patterns and their relationship to established functional outcomes and aging trajectories remains insufficiently understood.

Homebound older adults (≥60 y) and their informal family caregivers face multiple challenges in meeting their instrumental, emotional, and informational needs, which result in lower functional status, multiple comorbidities, and poorer mental health. Caregivers are tasked with providing uncompensated care for medically complex older adults, often without formal health care training. This circumstance may translate to high levels of burden and greater vulnerability to social isolation and loneliness, which may precipitate chronic stress and compromise caregiver health. In recent years, numerous health-focused technologies assisting with health-promoting behaviors such as physical activity, stress management, and nutritional tracking have emerged. However, little is known about how these tools are adopted by family caregivers of homebound older adults.

There is limited evidence on the patterns of health care use among older adults in Singapore over the past decade.

The increasing life expectancy provides an opportunity for healthy longevity, but frailty is a potential challenge. Existing studies of frailty prevalence in England are largely cross-sectional, use heterogeneous frailty definitions, and rarely break down population-level drivers or project future burden, limiting their use for health and social care planning.

Technology-based rehabilitation is increasingly used for balance training in older adults. A 2023 network meta-analysis (NMA) found only exergaming with motion capture superior to no treatment; however, the evidence has since expanded, and no GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) appraisal has been applied.

Cognitive training may enhance cognition and support brain health during aging, but few trials have evaluated readily accessible chatbot-based programs with neuroimaging outcomes.

High-resolution digital cognitive tools administered at frequent intervals enable the study of age-related cognitive change at a previously unattainable level of granularity. Computational modeling further enables the simultaneous examination of multiple aspects of cognitive performance.

Telemonitoring offers solutions for remote health management among older adults; yet, acceptance varies based on individual perceptions and presentation strategies.

Delirium is common among older adults, particularly those with cognitive impairment. However, delirium among patients with dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in long-term care (LTC) hospitals has received limited attention.

Population aging and rapid digitalization have intensified concerns about older adults’ digital participation. Although access disparities have narrowed, older adults continue to differ from younger groups in how they use digital technologies, with their use skewed toward instrumental rather than hedonic purposes. Technophobia is a salient psychological barrier; yet, its distinct fear dimensions and their links to different forms of technology use remain insufficiently differentiated. Daily technical support (DTS) may provide an important sociotechnical context for understanding these relationships.

Home-based reablement programs have improved everyday functioning for people living with early-stage dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but the substantial time commitment required for delivery by health professionals has created a barrier to widespread implementation. Digital technology could facilitate delivery, but traditional devices such as smartphones and tablets present usability challenges for this population. We have co-designed a cognitive reablement program, VOICE-COG, that can deliver personalized interventions broadcast via voice-controlled digital voice assistants (DVAs).