Technology adoption in older adult care frequently fails to enhance person-centered outcomes despite widespread implementation. Effective technology design requires alignment with individual preferences, functional capacity, and care values rather than assumption of universal benefit.
Key Points
- Person-centered care demands technology tailored to individual needs, not standardized solutions.
- Poor technology design creates burden and reduces engagement among older adults.
- Implementation success depends on matching technology capability to user capacity and goals.
Longevity Analysis
Technology's role in extending healthspan depends less on innovation and more on whether it removes friction from decision-making and daily function. When systems are designed around how an individual's body actually signals its needs—rather than how designers assume it should—compliance improves and functional decline slows. This distinction separates tools that genuinely extend independent living from those that create compliance theater.
Original published by SAGE Research on Aging, by Pranava Mallu, Sheryl Zimmerman, Sam Fazio, Philip D. Sloane1School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA2Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and School of Social Work, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA3Alzheimer’s Association, Chicago, IL, USA4Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.