Table 3.
Data analysis.
| Quotations | Primary codes | Subthemes | Themes |
|---|---|---|---|
| “The effect is greatly shown by improving interest in healthcare methods according to the use of smartphones and devices. Expectations for possible changes in health [-related] habits due to voluntary participation.” (1:14) | Use of Technology/Divices | Tech-empowered Health Autonomy | Facilitators: Digital Health Empowerment and Transformation |
| "People checked their blood pressure, blood sugar, steps, and weight, and could see how they compared to their old info. It was easy to manage their own health, and they could get into good habits with the daily missions. They looked at the numbers with the nurses, who could give advice without seeing them in person." (5:9) | Self-management | ||
| “Once the older adults get used to it, being able to manage their health with their smartphones gives them a sense of accomplishment. A notable advantage is that they can see the results of their efforts. The pedometer was especially popular, although it had limited functionality, only measuring steps and pulse.” (10:16) | Health Monitoring | ||
| Real-time Health Advice | |||
| Sense of accomplishment | |||
| Voluntary Participation | |||
| "The best part for the people doing the program was that doing the missions every day, kind of like homework, made their lives better by helping them exercise and manage their health." (8:12) | Health management/Improvement | Comprehensive Health Advancement through Structured Engagement | |
| "People were happy to take part because it was about their own health. The program included counseling about health and updates on their health indicators, and helped them learn how to take care of themselves. When they were given health info and rewards, they were more likely to keep participating in the program." (2:19) | Participant Engagement | ||
| Program Structure | |||
| “During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was better to have fewer face-to-face visits and instead offer more remote services like phone counseling. This helped keep everyone safe.” (4:10) | Remote Health Services | Digitally Facilitated Personalized Health Management and Support | Facilitators: Government Support for Digital Health Management |
| “Because of the pandemic, managing your health became harder. But some people found it helpful that they could use technology to manage their health at home. For example, they could easily check their blood pressure and blood sugar levels and see how they were doing over time. (5:2)” | Use of Technology for Health monitoring | ||
| “This program has enough budget to promote healthy behaviors and provide incentives for individualized health-related missions.” (5:19) | Financial Incentives | ||
| Support Beyond Material Provisions | |||
| Users encountered situations where they couldn't fix issues with their device while trying to measure their health, so they had to ask for help. They felt let down when the step count disappeared due to machine errors after putting in effort to walk more. Moreover, they faced difficulty when their device did not connect well with their phone due to differences in phone model, which required them to manually input data, and that was quite annoying. (4:4) | Technical difficulties | Challenges in Digital Health Implementation and Participant Retention | Barriers: Tech Challenges in Digital Health for the older adults |
| Some participants dropped out of the project due to low participation, loss of contact, and other reasons, and there were difficulties because they did not return the devices. Despite my attempts to encourage them to complete the mission and stay in contact, I was unable to reach them, and their level of participation in the project was very low. Furthermore, there are no clear guidelines for withdrawing from the project. (5:12) | Participant Engagement | ||
| Program management Challenges | |||
| “Some participants wanted to join the project, but they had little experience with the device, especially older and less tech-savvy individuals.” (1:23) | |||
| “Based on the participants' characteristics, it seemed like there was a correlation between their economic status, education level, and ability to use mobile phones. Those who found it easy to use the device participated more actively and even took on additional missions. However, some participants found even the basic mission of wearing the activity tracker every morning challenging and dropped out of the project.” (6:12) | |||
| It's taking a while for our participants to adapt to the devices. We found that there were only a few people who were suitable for the IOT project among the home visiting project participants. (9:2) | |||
| In my opinion, we should aid vulnerable individuals. With solutions for mobile phone compatibility issues and adequate education, I think the IOT project can work for older adults and vulnerable participants (with help from their children if needed). (7:34) | Technological inexperience | Addressing barriers to technological adoption and adaptation among diverse populations | Barriers: The digital alienation of vulnerable older adults |
| Socioeconomic and Educational Factors | |||
| Adaptation Challenges | |||
| Need for Assistance |