E-health for active ageing; A systematic review

Abstract

Enabling successful active ageing is an international priority to meet the challenges of increasing life expectancy. Digital strategies, such as telemedicine and e-health, offer the potential to deliver active ageing in a cost-effective manner at scale. This article aims to establish the extent to which the research literature considers e-health-based and telemedicine-based active ageing interventions. A systematic review was conducted according to PRISMA standards. Independently, two authors searched the Cochrane, EMBASE & CINAHL databases, with subsequent independent extraction and semi-quantitative analysis. We report a considerable breadth in digital active ageing research, which is truly international in its scope. There is a diverse range of both interventions and technologies, including a reassuring focus on community-based interventions. Whilst there are a number of quantitative studies, sample sizes are small, with a limited amount of statistical testing of the results. There is significant variation in the outcome measures reported and little consensus as to the most effective intervention strategies. Overall, whilst there is considerable breadth to the research published in the literature, there is a clear restriction in the depth of this research. There is little overall consensus. This lack of depth and consensus may be due to the need to recognize the important role of technical research elements alongside more traditional research methodologies, such as randomized controlled trials. Enabling both technical and clinical research methods to be recognized, in tandem, has enormous potential to support individuals, communities, clinicians and policy makers to make more informed decisions in relation to active ageing.

Antecedents of use of e-health services in Central Eastern Europe: a qualitative comparative analysis

“…The lack of e-health skills among senior citizens is broadly recognised [51]. This fact gains value when keeping in mind that e-health strategies have enormous potential to support active ageing [68].…”

Dorsal: Ferramenta para Geração de Modelos de Dados para Aplicações voltadas a Saúde e Cuidado de Idosos

“…Dentre os 7 tipos de aplicações contempladas pela taxonomia temos: (i) Applications to assist older adult care [Woll and Bratteteig 2019], que compreendem aplicações voltadas para cuidadores de idosos; (ii) Applications of medical treatment and follow-up [Robbins et al 2018] usadas no acompanhamento de tratamentos médicos; (iii) Home monitoring healthcare systems [Woll and Bratteteig 2019], que são voltadas para o monitoramento de idosos em ambientes específicos como a casa; (iv) Selfcare application [Subramaniam et al 2016], aplicações criadas para idosos independentes que podem realizar ações de auto-cuidado; (v) Epidemiological clinic systems [Oliveira et al 2010], sistemas que auxiliam gestores de saúde no enfrentamento de situações epidemiológicas; (vi) Medical normative systems sistemas para suporte de ações normativas dos gestores em saúde [Oliveira et al 2010]; e, finalmente, (vii) Medical governance applications [Robbins et al 2018], aplicações relacionadas ao gerenciamento de sistemas de saúde.…”

“…O envelhecimento populacionalé um fenômeno que está ocorrendo no mundo todo. De acordo com a Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS) [Robbins et al 2018], o número de idosos no mundo vai praticamente dobrar em 2050, passando a ser 22%, quando comparado ao ano de 2015, que era 12% [WHO 2007]. Esses dados sugerem a necessidade da criação de meios para auxiliar no processo de envelhecimento, o que, ainda de acordo com a OMS, pode ser realizado com o apoio de aplicativos.…”

A multimodal conversational coach for active ageing based on sentient computing and m‐health

“…The concept of active ageing is concerned with extending healthy life expectancy in several different ways (Lionis & Midlov, ; Martínez‐Tomás, Fernández‐Caballero, & Ferrández, ; Robbins, Lim Choi Keung, & Arvanitis, ). The WHO in a report to define a global strategy and action plan on ageing and health from 2016 to 2020 indicated different guidelines to make active ageing possible, the first being the promotion of “good health and healthy behaviors at all ages to prevent or delay the development of chronic disease.” These include being physically active, eating a healthy diet, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco.…”