Needs and perceptions of community-dwelling older adults for an intelligent frailty monitoring system: a qualitative study

The early detection of frailty in community-dwelling older adults can assist health care professionals in providing preventive interventions. To precisely and dynamically monitor frailty, a home-based monitoring system integrating multiple intelligent sensors is essential. This study aims to explore the needs and perceptions of community-dwelling older adults regarding such frailty monitoring systems.

This study adopted a descriptive qualitative research design and purposive sampling of community-dwelling older adults. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between February and March of 2025 from three communities in Changsha, China. Interview guidelines were systematically developed using the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology and Nudge Theory. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed to verbatims. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Seventeen participants aged 60 years and older were recruited for this study. Most participants expressed positive attitudes towards the frailty monitoring system. Data analysis identified five themes, including function requirements, system usability requirements, user support, perceived barriers and facilitators, and nudge strategies. These five themes consisted of sixteen subthemes.

This study highlights the importance of considering the needs and perceptions of community-dwelling older adults and provides pragmatic ready-to-use recommendations to develop intelligent frailty monitoring systems. Future studies, policies, and practices should be tailored according to the needs of older adults, utilizing perceived facilitators and minimizing perceived barriers, and integrating nudge strategies to enhance digital engagement in remote geriatric care.