Design of an Integrated Acceptance Framework for Older Users and eHealth: Influential Factor Analysis

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• eHealth and telehealth are vital for older adults, especially those with frequent hospital visits or in nursing homes.
• Older adults often face challenges adapting to new technologies, hindering eHealth adoption.
• Existing research lacks a unified framework to guide eHealth development for this demographic.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present an Integrated Acceptance Framework (IAF) for older users' acceptance of eHealth.
• To synthesize findings from a systematic review of 43 studies on eHealth acceptance factors.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a systematic review of eHealth literature from 2010-2020.
• Performed thematic analysis to group 105 extracted acceptance factors into 5 dimensions.
• Developed a metric to evaluate the impact of identified factors and conducted stratification analysis.

Main Results:

• Identified 105 acceptance factors, grouped into 5 dimensions: personal, user-technology relational, technological, service-related, and environmental.
• The Integrated Acceptance Framework (IAF) comprises 23 key factors.
• Stratification analysis revealed factors varying by participant health condition and assessment time.

Conclusions:

• The proposed IAF provides a structured approach for future eHealth acceptance research.
• Criteria for evaluating evidence and the impact of IAF factors are presented.
• Highlights areas needing specific measures to enhance eHealth acceptance among older adults.