JMIR Aging

Hearing loss and depression are important health issues among the middle-aged and older population.

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) summarize the best available evidence in a specific field. To improve patient-centered outcomes, guidelines have to be implemented, using, for example, information and communications technology. Although there are CPGs addressing multimorbidity, there is still a lack of studies investigating their implementation.

Digital technologies are increasingly present in workplaces; however, their impact on the physical health of older workers remains unclear.

Symptoms such as loss of pleasure, agitation, and sadness are subjective experiences that contribute significantly to caregiver burden and healthcare costs in Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). However, traditional self-report measures of subjective experiences are limited in AD/ADRD due to cognitive impairments and awareness. Passive sensing, which collects data without active participant input, has emerged as a promising approach to quantify aspects of subjective experiences. Smartphones, wearables, and in-home sensors can quantify mobility, physiology, speech, and social interaction markers of constructs relevant to AD/ADRD. Available research indicates potential but is largely at the proof-of-concept stage. In this Commentary, we discuss several roadblocks to future translation of passive sensing in measuring subjective experiences in AD/ADRD, including technical implementation, data harmonization, validation, ethical and privacy principles. Addressing these challenges could lead to transformative applications to care for AD/ADRD, enabling precise monitoring of behavioral symptoms and related treatment targets, ultimately improving quality of life for persons with AD/ADRD and their caregivers.

Smart displays and speakers offer voice interaction, which may be more accessible and appealing to older adults with chronic pain and other multimorbid conditions. Previous trials found stronger socioemotional benefits of ElderTree (vs control) among those with high primary care use and multiple chronic conditions.

Digital technologies are increasingly central to supporting autonomy, health, and social participation in later life. However, disparities persist in the ability to keep up with technological developments, affecting individuals’ opportunities to benefit from digital health and social innovations.

Little is currently known regarding the feasibility of using a self-guided, remote, web-based platform as the basis for a longitudinal study of aging in community-dwelling older adults (OAs). The current study describes the feasibility, and risk factors for participant drop out, using this approach as part of the web-based Louisiana aging brain study (web-LABrainS).

Voice-based digital health technologies are highly feasible and acceptable tools for supporting older adults. However, their development has rarely focused on caregiving needs and it is often poorly integrated with existing care services, thereby limiting their sustained effect.

Social media engagement among older adults has surged globally, with China's elderly users exceeding 120 million in 2023. However, research remains disproportionately focused on youth. Critically, the dose-response relationship between usage intensity and mental health in this population is poorly quantified, especially in rapidly aging societies like China where 23% of the population will be ≥65 by 2035.

The prevalence of dementia has led to a growing interest in wearable technologies to assist dementia care. Despite their potential, these technologies face low adoption rates, often attributed to poor aesthetic design and insufficient consideration of user experience.

Depressive symptoms, sleep disturbance, and functional disability are interrelated. However, the bidirectional pathways between depression, sleep disturbance, and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) disability remain underexplored in China.

Given the rapid development of the digital economy and the sustained proliferation of the Internet, digital engagement in older adults has garnered mounting attention from the academic community. However, research has yet to systematically examine the impact of digital engagement on sleep in this demographic.