Towards Successful Ageing: Leveraging A Community-Engaged Digital Health Technologies Ecosystem in Promoting Physical Activity and Well-Being Among Future and Current Seniors

Grant Award: Ministry of Education (“MOE”) Social Science and Humanities Research Fellowship Grant

Funding Quantum: SGD $907,543

Duration of Award: Sept 2023 to Aug 2028 (project ceased due to PI’s departure from NTU)

Role: Principal Investigator

What the project is about:

The project aims to develop a sustainable community-engaged digital health technologies ecosystem focused on promoting physical activity and well-being among both current and future seniors. By leveraging various digital health technologies such as health apps, wearables, and embedded sensors.

The project seeks to address the overarching research question (RQ): What are the motivations and barriers to digital technology adoption among future and current seniors, and how can they be leveraged for active ageing? To address these RQs, this research project consists of five work packages (WPs):

  • WP1: Review existing research landscape to identify technological, cultural, social, and individual-level factors associated with the sustainable implementation of digital health technologies in the community to motivate healthy ageing.
  • WP2: Identify social determinants, motivators, and barriers to seniors’ digital health technologies use and their impact on physical and mental well-being in Singapore compared with selected ASEAN countries.
  • WP3: Build capacity among stakeholders by co-developing equitable digital health technologies and promoting digital health data literacy.
  • WP4: Evaluate the feasibility and sustainability of a community-engaged digital health technologies ecosystem in improving the physical activity and mental well-being of seniors.
  • WP5: Develop a public communication campaign to raise awareness of the effective use of digital health technologies for active ageing in Singapore.

Potential Impact: The project aims to democratize access to digital health technologies among seniors, thereby empowering them to actively manage their health and well-being. By creating a sustainable ecosystem that engages the community, the project seeks to foster a culture of active ageing and promote healthy lifestyles among seniors in Singapore and beyond.