Acceptance of Health-Related ICT among Elderly People Living in the Community: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Evidence

Abstract

There are a growing number of seniors and a growing need for health-related ICT (Information and Communication Technology) solutions to allow seniors live independently in their own homes and communities. We need to have a better understanding of how and why seniors use or do not use health-related ICT in such settings so we can improve our solutions. In order to synthesise existing knowledge we did a systematic literature review using Scopus and PubMed. We searched for both review articles and primary qualitative studies. 11 review articles and 31 primary research articles were included in the study. We structured our findings using the UTAUT2 acceptance model developed by Venkatesh et al. Our findings show that seniors want health-related ICT that gives them independence, safety and security, allows them to socialize, manage their own health, and helps them in their daily activities. They need to easily get help if they have problems using services, get tailored training and help during use. Lack of privacy and safety, and stigma are some of the reported barriers. Health-related ICT at home is different than both consumer and institutional ICT. We need more research in order to develop a specialized and operationalized acceptance model for health-related ICT use among seniors. Our mapping to UTAUT2 is a step in this direction, and suggests a possible specialization of this model.