A Literature Review on Information Systems Supporting the Physical Wellbeing of Elderly People

This paper reviews multi-disciplinary research on information systems supporting the physical wellbeing of the elderly population. By taking a systematic approach, it screens journals, conference proceedings and books on how computer-based systems are used for improving both the health and wellbeing of the most senior individuals. By using different Internet-databases indexing academic publications and a set of conceptual keywords the authors searched for and identified 62 major publications on the topic that were carefully reviewed. Each publication item was classified according different category sets and the aggregated data was then analyzed from different socio-technological perspectives. Our findings suggest that research on the topic is very focused on diseases over health and wellbeing, since most of the studied information systems focused much more on the protective and curative medical procedures over other important dimensions such as prevention, education and health promotion. An overview on what and where the studied systems are used is presented and a new information systems research agenda is proposed.

💡 Research Summary

The paper presents a systematic literature review of information systems (IS) that aim to support the physical wellbeing of elderly people. Using a multi‑disciplinary approach, the authors searched major academic databases—including Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and PubMed—by combining eight conceptual keywords such as “elderly,” “physical wellbeing,” “information system,” “healthcare,” and “prevention/education/promotion.” The search covered publications from 2000 to 2023 and yielded 1,284 records. After removing duplicates, screening abstracts, and ensuring full‑text availability, 62 peer‑reviewed journal articles, conference papers, and book chapters were selected for in‑depth analysis.

Each of the 62 studies was coded according to four classification dimensions: (1) type of system (e.g., biosignal monitoring and alarm, remote consultation, rehabilitation/exercise support, smart‑home lifestyle assistance, social‑networking/community services); (2) deployment context (home, nursing home or assisted‑living facility, community centre, clinical setting); (3) research purpose (disease management/treatment, early detection/prevention, education/behavior change, health promotion/quality‑of‑life improvement); and (4) underlying technology (sensor/IoT, mobile/app, cloud/big‑data analytics, AI/machine‑learning, virtual/augmented reality). This taxonomy allowed the authors to aggregate findings from both a socio‑technical and a health‑policy perspective.

The aggregated data reveal a pronounced bias toward disease‑centric applications. Approximately 70 % of the examined systems focus on monitoring chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis) or providing rapid response to acute events such as falls or cardiac arrest. These solutions are predominantly sensor‑driven, often integrated with real‑time alerts and remote‑clinician dashboards, and they are most frequently piloted in institutional settings (nursing homes, assisted‑living facilities). In contrast, only about 20 % of the literature addresses preventive, educational, or health‑promotion functions. When such functions appear, they are usually embedded in gamified exercise apps, nutrition‑tracking tools, or social‑network platforms, and they tend to be evaluated in small‑scale, short‑term studies. The authors argue that this imbalance reflects the current health‑care financing model, which prioritizes cost containment through disease management rather than long‑term wellbeing.

From a socio‑technical standpoint, the review applies the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Human‑Computer Interaction (HCI) principles, and Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theory to explain why preventive and educational IS receive less attention. Older adults often experience cognitive, visual, and motor limitations that increase the perceived effort of using complex interfaces. Moreover, social isolation can diminish motivation to engage with digital tools, while concerns about privacy and data security further hinder adoption. Consequently, the authors stress the need for user‑centred design approaches that incorporate multimodal interaction (voice, gesture, haptic feedback), personalized feedback loops, and mechanisms for social support (peer networks, caregiver involvement).

The paper proposes a forward‑looking research agenda aimed at shifting the field from a “disease‑treatment” paradigm to a “health‑promotion” paradigm. Key recommendations include:

1. Interdisciplinary Frameworks – Foster collaborations among gerontology, biomedical engineering, health informatics, psychology, and policy scholars to develop holistic evaluation models that capture clinical outcomes, quality‑of‑life metrics, and economic impact.
2. Longitudinal Effectiveness Studies – Conduct randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and real‑world cohort studies that track health indicators, functional independence, and health‑care utilization over multiple years to assess sustained benefits.
3. Home‑Centric Smart‑Home Solutions – Leverage low‑cost IoT sensors and voice‑controlled assistants to enable continuous, unobtrusive monitoring and preventive alerts within the private home, thereby reducing reliance on institutional settings.
4. Behavior‑Change and Social Engagement Platforms – Design gamified interventions that set individualized activity goals, provide real‑time performance feedback, and integrate community challenges to encourage peer motivation and reduce loneliness.
5. Data Standardization and Privacy‑Preserving Techniques – Adopt international health‑data standards (e.g., HL7 FHIR) and emerging privacy‑enhancing technologies such as homomorphic encryption and federated learning to ensure interoperability while protecting sensitive personal information.

In conclusion, the review highlights that current research on information systems for elderly physical wellbeing is heavily skewed toward curative, disease‑focused technologies, leaving preventive, educational, and health‑promotion aspects underexplored. By addressing the identified gaps—through user‑centric design, interdisciplinary collaboration, rigorous long‑term evaluation, and robust privacy safeguards—future work can create a more balanced, sustainable digital health ecosystem that truly enhances the physical wellbeing and overall quality of life for the aging population.