SynthesisThe Gerontologist2020
The Importance of User Involvement: A Systematic Review of Involving Older Users in Technology Design.
Synthesis in The Gerontologist, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 95 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
95 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A State-of-the-Art of Exoskeletons in Line with the WHO's Vision on Healthy Aging: From Rehabilitation of Intrinsic Capacities to Augmentation of Functional Abilities.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Older people's attitudes towards emerging technologies: A systematic literature review.Public understanding of science (Bristol, England) · 2023Pooled it
- Design Guidelines of Mobile Apps for Older Adults: Systematic Review and Thematic Analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Pooled it
- Codesign approaches involving older adults in the development of electronic healthcare tools: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Publicly Available, Interactive Web-Based Tools to Support Advance Care Planning: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2022Pooled it
- Learning and Use of eHealth Among Older Adults Living at Home in Rural and Nonrural Settings: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- Effects of Digital Technologies on Older People's Access to Health and Social Care: Umbrella Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Identifying Unmet Needs of Informal Dementia Caregivers in Clinical Practice: User-Centered Development of a Digital Assessment Tool.JMIR aging · 2025Trial
- Participatory approaches with older adults in technology and innovation research: a scoping review of reviews.The Gerontologist · 2026Article
- User-Centered Evaluation of Healthcare Information System Utilization: A Cross-Sectional Study Integrating Acceptance Models.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Digital Tools to Support Mental Health in Later Life: Scoping Review of Systematic Reviews.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Article
- Thematic characteristics and research hot-spots of China's healthy aging policy: topic modeling study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Information and Communication Technologies for Chronic Disease Self-Management in Adults Aged 65 Years and Older: Scoping Review.Interactive journal of medical research · 2026Review
- The Participation of Older Persons in the Adoption of Age-Friendly Care Models in Hospital Settings: A Scoping Review.Nursing & health sciences · 2026Article
- Putting FUN into involvement: feedback user needs in the design of a mobile phone app for people with long-term conditions.Research involvement and engagement · 2026Article
- Designing Electronic Problem-Solving Training for Individuals With Traumatic Brain Injury: Mixed Methods, Community-Based, Participatory Research Case Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Potential and limitations of socially assistive robots to support malnutrition care: a critical reflection by dietitians.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- Co-designing animated videos to explain large language models and their use in healthcare and research.Frontiers in digital health · 2026Article
- "Awakening consciousness": Safe Care Linkage Theory From a Mixed Perspective-A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study.Journal of nursing management · 2026Article
35 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesThere is a lack of understanding of how older adults' involvement and participation matters in actual design practice. This systematic literature review investigates existing empirical studies involving older users during the design of technologies and explores the nature and consequences of involving older people. RESEARCH DESIGN AND
methodsOur literature review is informed by the guidelines of the PRISMA statement. We examined the included studies by means of thematic content analysis to identify the nature of older users' involvement and existing evidence on what consequences it has.
resultsIn total, 40 empirical studies published in the period 2014-2018 are included in the review. Most empirical studies involve older people from local networks, with underlying stereotypical images and at lower levels of participation. The results reveal three main consequences of involving older users: learning, adjusted design, and an increased sense of participation. Furthermore, we found that user involvement is a structured process whose outcomes are contingent on a range of premises. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Synthesizing the results, we develop the concept of user involvement and present an analytical framework. Our results have implications for researchers and policy makers, since they throw into question the widely held assumption that involving older people inevitably yields beneficial outcomes.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.