Trust Barriers and Vulnerabilities in Older Adults' Telemedicine Adoption: Scoping Review

Aging populations worldwide face increasing health care demands, particularly for chronic disease management. While telemedicine offers a viable solution to enhance health care access, significant trust-related barriers hinder its adoption among older adults, warranting a scoping synthesis of available evidence.

This scoping review aims to map the available evidence on trust barriers experienced by older adults in telemedicine, identify underlying vulnerability domains, and chart the evidence base for design and policy recommendations.

We conducted a scoping review in accordance with PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines, analyzing literature from PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus. Thematic analysis was applied to synthesize findings from 30 included studies.

Four primary trust barriers were identified: technophobia and technical difficulties, privacy and data security concerns, negative emotional and social impacts, and a strong preference for in-person care. These barriers mapped onto 4 vulnerability domains: limited telemedicine literacy (particularly low eHealth self-efficacy), declining health status (including sensory and cognitive impairments), psychological and cognitive factors (such as anxiety about losing autonomy), and inadequate social support systems. The review also underscored how rapid technological change amplifies these challenges for older adults.

Effective telemedicine implementation for older adults requires multipronged interventions, including age-appropriate interface design, targeted digital literacy training, robust privacy protections, and personalized support systems. These approaches address both technological and psychosocial barriers, potentially increasing engagement while mitigating vulnerabilities. Future research should assess the effectiveness of these interventions across diverse older populations.