Older adults’ perspectives and experiences with digital health in Singapore: A qualitative study (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Technology usage among older adults is increasingly common. However, only a small fraction of them uses it for health-related purposes. OBJECTIVE This study seeks to understand the perspectives of, and the experiences with digital health (DH) among the older adults in Singapore. METHODS 16 participants (age range = 60-80 years; 11 females) were interviewed for approximately an hour (range = 27 - 64 minutes) about their health, DH usage and DH experiences. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. RESULTS Five main themes emerged from the interview: support towards DH literacy, credibility, cost and benefit considerations, intrinsic drive to be healthy, and telehealth. Older adults need support in familiarising themselves with DH. When considering DH options, older adults often relied on credible sources and preferred DH to be free. Monetary incentives were brought up as motivators. The intrinsic drive to live longer and healthily was expressed to be a huge encouragement to use DH to help obtain health-related knowledge and achieve healthy living goals. The idea of telehealth was also appealing among the older adults but was seen to be more suited for individuals who have issues accessing a physical clinic. CONCLUSIONS Our findings offer insights on the various aspects that matter to older adults in the adoption of DH, which in turn can help reshape their health-seeking behaviour and lifestyle. As such, policymakers, and DH implementors are encouraged to take these into considerations and align their strategies accordingly.