Abstract
Older adults face complex challenges in managing multimorbidity. As the ageing population increases, digital health technology (DHT) offers significant potential to address these challenges while supporting independent living. However, current research remains largely condition-specific and technology-driven, providing limited insight into how digital health can support older adults with multimorbidity (OAwM) in self-management for independent living. This study investigates how digital health technologies can be inclusively designed to support older adults living with multiple and complex health conditions. Drawing on qualitative inquiries into older adults’ self-management practices, it develops an understanding of the challenges existing in multimorbidity management within independent living contexts. The findings contribute to inclusive design by proposing design principles to inform the creation of digital health that are context-responsive and grounded in the lived realities of ageing with complex health needs.
Keywords
Healthcare, Chronic condition, Digital health, Ageing.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1794
Citation
Fu, Z., Zitkus, E., Cook, S., and Harmer, L. (2026) Living with Multimorbidity: How Design Might Support Older Adults Use of Health Technology for Self-management., in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1794
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Included in
Living with Multimorbidity: How Design Might Support Older Adults Use of Health Technology for Self-management.
Older adults face complex challenges in managing multimorbidity. As the ageing population increases, digital health technology (DHT) offers significant potential to address these challenges while supporting independent living. However, current research remains largely condition-specific and technology-driven, providing limited insight into how digital health can support older adults with multimorbidity (OAwM) in self-management for independent living. This study investigates how digital health technologies can be inclusively designed to support older adults living with multiple and complex health conditions. Drawing on qualitative inquiries into older adults’ self-management practices, it develops an understanding of the challenges existing in multimorbidity management within independent living contexts. The findings contribute to inclusive design by proposing design principles to inform the creation of digital health that are context-responsive and grounded in the lived realities of ageing with complex health needs.