Toward Inclusive Design Heuristics for Digital Health Interventions for the Aging Population: Scoping Review

The inclusive design of DHIs for older adults extends beyond usability and user interface design. This study highlights the critical role of co-designed DHIs in addressing persistent challenges of isolation, limited mobility, and access to care among older adults. Older adults must be placed at the center of development, with their needs and challenges identified and addressed in the solution. By enabling tailored, locally relevant digital experiences, co-design empowers older adults to engage meaningfully with health services despite infrastructural and socioeconomic barriers. The list of inclusive design aspects and recommendations provides a starting point for DHI developers to create functionality that supports many needs and goals of older adults. Future work must validate our results from a practical perspective. The adoption of our heuristics in practice could be fostered by developing concrete methods that implement them.