Towards Digital Support for Mental Wellbeing in Retirement Transition: Expert Insights.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Digital Health
• Mental Wellbeing

Background:

• Retirement transition poses significant mental wellbeing challenges, including loss of identity, meaning, daily structure, and social connections.
• Expert perspectives are crucial for developing effective support systems during this major life change.

Purpose of the Study:

• To gather expert insights to inform the design of Retirement Companion, a digital solution.
• To identify key factors for supporting mental health during the transition to retirement.

Main Methods:

• An online survey was administered to 16 experts across psychology, academia, healthcare, social work, and human resources.
• Qualitative analysis was employed to identify themes concerning mental health challenges, design requirements, and adoption factors.

Main Results:

• Experts identified loss of routines, self-worth, meaning, and social connections as primary challenges.
• Recommended features for digital interventions include comprehensive information, social connectedness tools, meaning-focused activities, personalized routines, peer communities, and self-reflection tools.

Conclusions:

• Findings offer actionable design guidance for evidence-based digital interventions.
• The study supports the development of digital solutions to enhance mental health during retirement transitions.