DOI: 10.1177/07334648261499909 ISSN: 0733-4648

Anticipated Gerontechnology Needs in Later Life: eHealth Literacy, Adult Children’s Support, and Age-Group Variation in Urban China

Yuhan Gao, Yajun Song
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Background

Gerontechnology supports ageing in place, but older adults’ anticipated needs before adoption remain understudied.

Objective

We examined anticipated gerontechnology needs among community-dwelling older adults in urban China.

Methods

A cross-sectional Shanghai survey ( N = 869, aged 60+) used multi-group path analysis to examine safety-monitoring, health-management, and daily-life-convenience needs against eHealth literacy, three types of adult-child support, self-rated health, and sociodemographic factors across three age bands.

Results

eHealth literacy was positively associated with safety monitoring ( b = .126, p = .002), health management ( b = .140, p < .001), and daily-life convenience ( b = .158, p < .001), with invariant paths across age bands. Instrumental support was negatively associated with health management ( b = −.175, p = .004) and daily-life convenience ( b = −.145, p = .019), but not safety monitoring. Emotional support to daily-life convenience differed across age bands (omnibus p = .004), but no within-band coefficient was significant.

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