PPI Activities for Co-design of Digital Technologies for Empowerment of Older People on Health and Wellbeing

The UN Decade of Healthy Ageing's Plan of Action aims to ensure lasting health and quality of life for older individuals by shifting the focus from mere absence of disease to fostering functional ability aligned with personal values. Empowering older individuals with knowledge for informed health decisions is crucial for enhancing overall quality of life. While digital technologies support healthy behaviours, they often lack a focus on person empowerment, are not tailored to user needs, and can be complex for non-native digital users, especially older individuals. Exploring ways for digital technologies to actively empower older individuals is essential for managing integrated health and wellbeing. Acknowledging individuals as health partners is crucial within the 9 Pillars of integrated care, especially with the rapid growth of digital technologies. Patient and public involvement (PPI) significantly shapes healthcare and research design, yet there's a notable gap in amplifying the voices of older citizens, particularly in digital technologies for health and wellbeing. Additionally, reported PPI methods in designing digital tools are lacking. Our goal is to enhance the quality and relevance of research by actively incorporating the perspectives of those directly impacted. Stakeholder mapping was undertaken to identify relevant voices, and individuals aged 55+ from the Irish community were invited, by the Maynooth University (MU) PPI Officer, to register for a focus group on using digital technologies for person empowerment on health and wellbeing. Promotion of the event included a poster displayed at various locations in MU and on social media platforms resulting in a total of 13 registrations. On September 28, 2023, a focus group in MU had nine in-person attendees and one participant joining online. After a presentation on research objectives and PPI principles, participants filled out an online survey detailing health dimensions, technology's role in health decisions, and interactions within the digital health ...