ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Health Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1584543
This article is part of the Research TopicAging: Challenges and Opportunities for Inclusion and Active ParticipationView all 4 articles
Emotional needs for Smart Products: A Case Study of older people living alone in Chengdu, China
Provisionally accepted
- 1Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
- 2Chengdu University, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Older people living alone (OPLA) face significant challenges in maintaining emotional well-being, especially in the context of rapid urbanisation and social change. Smart products are increasingly viewed as promising tools to support healthy and independent aging. This study explores the emotional needs of urban OPLA in Chengdu, China, and examines their perceptions and use of smart products as emotional support tools. Using a qualitative approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 OPLA aged 60 and above. Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: (A) Emotional well-being of OPLA due to living alone, (B) Efforts to satisfy emotional needs, and (C) The use of smart products to satisfy emotional needs. While many older adults adopt self-regulatory strategies and express interest in technology, low motivation and usability barriers hinder their engagement with smart products. This study highlights the need for emotionally responsive, userfriendly, and culturally attuned smart technologies. The findings offer theoretical and practical insights into promoting smart aging through inclusive design and inform policies aimed at improving emotional well-being among older adults living alone.
Keywords: Ageing1, older people living alone (OPLA)2, emotional needs3, smart product4, thematic analysis5
Received: 27 Feb 2025; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Che Me and Yusoff. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yun Liu, Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Rosalam Che Me, Putra Malaysia University, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.