Promotion of Active and Healthy Ageing through mHealth for Healthy Older Adults: a scoping review.

Abstract

Our population is getting older than ever before. Between 2015 and 2050, the number of people aged 60 and over are expected to almost double. Simultaneously, the share of working aged people is decreasing, which highlights the impact of population aging on the labour market and increases the economic pressure on healthcare systems. One strategy to address the challenges faced by an ageing population, is promotion of active and healthy ageing. Mobile health (mHealth) has spread rapidly the past decade and is believed to be able to materialise this strategy. This paper aims to provide an informed overview and analysis of contemporary mHealth solutions that promote active and healthy ageing among older adults. A scoping review has been conducted, focused on references published between 2015-2020 addressing mHealth devices that targets older adults aged 60 or over. The initial search resulted in 4349 publications, after inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied 31 remained for the review. The majority of the studies were published between 2018 and 2019 in Europe. Most of them utilise either smartphones or tablets, however diverse types of activity trackers and wearables are also registered. mHealth solutions mostly promote active and healthy aging through targeting elderlies’ active lifestyle and independence. The research concludes that mHealth can promote active and healthy ageing among healthy and independent elderly by targeting their lifestyles, participation in society and daily functionings. However, more focus should be put on the development of mHealth solutions specifically for older adults, to make the devices a natural part of the elderly’s everyday life. mHealth offers an opportunity to combat the issues faced by an aging population, by empowering elderly to stay independent and healthy as long as possible.