Delivering Telemonitoring Care to Digitally Disadvantaged Older Adults: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Design Recommendations

Although telemonitoring has promise in improving care delivery and reducing unnecessary health care costs, the recent years have witnessed growing interest in identifying and resolving barriers to engagement, participation, and spreading of telemonitoring service programs among digitally disadvantaged populations. Based on a review of three key conceptual perspectives relevant to the problem of the digital divide, specific issues concerning technological acceptance, human resources development, and collaboration with service systems are described. Major strategies and policy implications are discussed with regard to HCI design considerations for telemonitoring of medical and aging conditions of the target population, integration of the telemonitoring service into the existing clinical and social context, and development of reimbursement policy that supports not only service use but also access to technology services and additional training for effective use of the technology.