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. 2024 Dec 19:45:1607756.
doi: 10.3389/phrs.2024.1607756. eCollection 2024.

Navigating Through Innovation in Elderly's Health: A Scoping Review of Digital Health Interventions

Macarena Hirmas-Adauy  1 , Carla Castillo-Laborde  1 , Camila Awad  1 , Anita Jasmen  2 , Maurizio Mattoli  3 , Xaviera Molina  1 , Andrea Olea  1 , Isabel Matute  1 , Fernando Soto  2 , Paola Rubilar  1 , Oscar Urrejola  1   4 , Tania Alfaro  1   5 , María Teresa Abusleme Lama  6 , Sophie Esnouf  1
Affiliations

Navigating Through Innovation in Elderly's Health: A Scoping Review of Digital Health Interventions

Macarena Hirmas-Adauy et al. Public Health Rev. .

Abstract

Objectives: Comprehensively map and summarize digital health initiatives for the elderly and caregivers.

Methods: Scoping review between April and May 2022 based on Joanna Briggs methodology. Databases used included PubMed, Cochrane Library, CINAHL Plus, and Web of Science, along with grey literature and hand searches. Two reviewers independently conducted screening and eligibility phases, with a third resolving disagreements. Data were thematically analyzed.

Results: The review included 421 documents. Most documents were published between 2013 and 2022, with a recent increase. Most studies, originating from high-income countries, focused on home applications and were mainly in the testing and validation stages. Telephones and computers were the predominant devices. Health objectives included monitoring, prevention, and treatment, with interventions utilizing directed communication and personal health monitoring for individuals, and telemedicine and decision support for healthcare providers.

Conclusion: Increasing integration of technology in older adults' lives, along with their increasing proficiency, is driving a significant rise in digital health interventions. Despite this growth, further research in middle- and low-income countries, for caregivers and evaluating effectiveness and feasibility of these technological interventions is needed.

Keywords: caregiver; digital health; elderly; reviews; telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flowchart of study selection according to scoping review process (Worldwide, 2022).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Summary of characteristics of included documents according to Population, Context, Concept (PCC) model (Worldwide, 2022).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Number of documents by year of publication and type of device studied (Worldwide, 2022).
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Proportion of documents by health objective and hardware (Worldwide, 2022).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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