Investigation and Analysis of the Age-Friendly Dilemma of Smart Elderly Care Services under AI Empowerment
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Against the backdrop of population aging and the widespread adoption of digital technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly being integrated into home- and community-based eldercare. However, many older adults continue to face a digital divide, while smart eldercare products often provide only superficial age-friendly adaptations and fail to match users' needs. This study examines older residents of urban communities and their family members. Drawing on a literature review, a questionnaire survey, and semi-structured interviews, it investigates the development of AI-enabled smart eldercare services and the difficulties older adults encounter when using smart devices and related services. Informed by digital divide theory, active aging theory, and supply-and-demand matching theory, the study analyzes the factors underlying these difficulties and proposes a smart eldercare service model that uses age-friendly short videos as a delivery medium and intergenerational collaboration as its core mechanism. It further develops operational strategies across six dimensions: content, target groups, channels, technology, implementation, and operations. Survey findings are used to assess the model's feasibility. The proposed approach offers communities and social organizations a low-cost, practical framework for more inclusive smart eldercare services, with the aim of narrowing the digital divide and supporting active aging.
DOI: 10.71204/rjz0ta36
Institution: Beijing City University
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7225037109