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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Aging and Public Health
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1505180
This article is part of the Research Topic Integrated Strategies for Lifelong Health: Multidimensional Approaches to Aging and Lifestyle Interventions View all 9 articles
The smart senior care demand in China in the context of active ageing: A qualitative study with multiple perspectives
Provisionally accepted
Qiyuan Huang 1
Fang Liu 1
Song Ge 2 Shuang Teng 1
Xiang Wu 3 Xiao Zhang 3
Zhe Qu 4 Ying Li 5 Aming Wang 3 Mei Li 6* Xianping Tang 1*- 1 School of Nursing, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 2 University of Houston–Downtown, Houston, Texas, United States
- 3 School of Medical Technology, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 4 Department of Pediatrics, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Jinan, Shandong Province, China
- 5 The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, China
- 6 Pizhou People's Hospital, Pizhou, China
Background: With the rapid population aging in China, smart senior care is urgently demanded. Therefore, it is necessary to comprehensively consider people's demand for smart senior care for its better development. This study aimed to explore the needs and expectations of relevant stakeholders of smart senior care in China in the context of active aging.Methods: This is a qualitative descriptive study, in which 21 semi-structured interviews were conducted between October 2021 and March 2022. A total of seven community-dwelling older adults, seven smart senior care managers, and seven providers were selected using purposeful sampling. Interviews were transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed by the thematic analysis method.Results: Four major themes and twelve subcategories were identified in the data: "challenges of smart senior care" (low acceptance of users; high cost vs. low purchasing power; low coverage of smart devices and applications), "meet the demands of users" (strong medical care needs; meticulous life care needs; extensive social interaction needs), "multi-body participation" (online & offline integration; government's broader role; cooperative gaming), and "all-around guarantee" (legal guarantee, technological empowerment, network security guarantee).To develop smart senior care in China in the context of active aging, it is essential to clarify the current issues and challenges faced by relevant stakeholdersThe smart senior care demand in China in the context of active ageing: A qualitative study with multiple perspectives 4 of smart senior care. To better develop smart senior care, we need to meet the health, life, and social care need of users, through multi-body participation and all-around guarantee.
Keywords: Smart Senior Care, active ageing, older adults, qualitative research, China
Received: 02 Oct 2024; Accepted: 26 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Huang, Liu, Ge, Teng, Wu, Zhang, Qu, Li, Wang, Li and Tang. 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:
Mei Li, Pizhou People's Hospital, Pizhou, China
Xianping Tang, School of Nursing, Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou, 221004, Jiangsu Province, China
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