Mobile Health Technologies for Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease: Current Evidence and Future Directions

Purpose of Review This review documents the most promising domains of mobile health (mHealth) use in cardiovascular disease, current barriers to mHealth adoption in older adults, and future directions of mHealth utilization that may increase engagement in this population. Recent Findings Mobile health technologies are being rapidly adopted as smartphones and wearable biometric devices enable increasingly sophisticated health monitoring. Cardiovascular disease management is particularly conducive to mobile health utilization, as many mobile platforms currently support software capable of sophisticated cardiovascular data collection. While cardiovascular disease most commonly affects older adults, these individuals also have the greatest barriers to mHealth adoption, limiting the potential for current technologies to achieve benefit. Summary Recent studies investigating mHealth interventions for older adults with cardiovascular disease have yielded mixed results. More work is needed to create engaging mHealth platforms that provide the necessary level of support to create sustained behavioral change. Addressing specific motivational, physical, and cognitive barriers to mHealth adoption among older adults may increase utilization of future interventions.