A Systematic Review of Unmet Needs of Older Adults in Home Settings and Their Implications for Novel Technological Solutions

Background and Objectives To better support aging in place, we first must understand the needs of the older adult population. We conducted a systematic review to understand the needs of older adults in the home. Research Design and Methods We queried the PubMed, CINAHL, and ProQuest databases to identify literature related to needs assessments of older adults in the home. Records were included if: 1) the population focused on older adults (aged 65 years and older); 2) a needs assessment was conducted; 3) the older adult population was aging in place and not in a long-term care facility; 4) English language publication; 5) published since 2013; and 6) pertaining solely to older adult caregivers’ needs. The needs identified in each article were extracted and categorized based on emergent themes. Results A total of 1,963 records were identified. After removing duplicate records and those not meeting the inclusion criteria, 65 articles were included in the final analysis. Six need-related theme domains were identified: health management needs; social needs; homecare and practical needs; information needs; technology needs; and healthcare system needs. Discussion and Implications Through the systematic review, we identified a wide range of unmet needs for older adults aging in the home. The unmet needs of older adults are multifaceted and provide ideal targets for the development of novel technological solutions. In particular, recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI such as large language models (LLMs), surface the potential for technology to address unmet needs across multiple domains. We discuss the potential for AI to lower barriers to technology uptake for older adults and create novel solutions to each of the need domains identified. Ultimately, AI-enabled solutions may increase independence for older adults and potentially increase the ability to age in place.