Older adults’ intention to adopt smart age-friendly home modifications: service feasibility, technology trust, and aging-in-place confidence

Smart age-friendly home modifications may support home safety, functional independence, emergency response, and aging in place. However, intention to adopt may be associated with older adults’ perceptions of whether the modification and its surrounding services are useful, controllable, trustworthy, and feasible. This study examined factors associated with older adults’ intention to adopt smart age-friendly home modifications. A community-based cross-sectional paper survey was conducted at six urban residential community sites in Hunan Province, China, from April to June 2026. Of 356 older adults invited through convenience and community-based recruitment, 320 were included in the analysis (89.9%). Eight reflective constructs were assessed with four items each. The association model was estimated in SmartPLS 4 with 5,000 bootstrap subsamples. Exploratory Welch tests compared adoption intention, feasibility, trust, and home-living confidence across groups defined by fall-related status, mobility, living arrangement, income, and age, with Benjamini–Hochberg correction. Subgroup patterns identified in these comparisons were further examined using supplementary multivariable sensitivity analyses. Measurement quality met the specified criteria (alpha = 0.761–0.809; composite reliability = 0.847–0.874; AVE = 0.580–0.635; maximum HTMT = 0.595), and structural collinearity was low (maximum VIF = 1.496). Within the fitted model, perceived feasibility had the largest estimated direct association with adoption intention (beta = 0.387, p < .001), followed by smart support benefits, long-term home-living confidence, technology trust, and perceived controllability. Family intelligent co-support was associated with trust, while its direct association with intention was not statistically significant (beta = 0.038, p = .402). The model explained 41.7% of intention variance. Exploratory unadjusted comparisons identified several subgroup differences in perceived feasibility. In supplementary adjusted analyses, lower income remained associated with lower perceived feasibility and adoption intention, whereas the fall-related and mobility patterns were attenuated. In this sample, adoption intention was associated with perceived feasibility, benefits, trust, endorsement of personal control, and anticipated confidence in continued home living after modification. The findings identify implementation and residential appraisals for further study. Community services could evaluate affordable installation, understandable controls, maintenance, and response support; longitudinal evidence is needed to assess actual adoption and aging-in-place outcomes.