@article{sasvry2026digital,
  title = {Digital Divides and Structural Barriers to IoT-Enabled Healthcare in Older Adults: Public Health Implications},
  author = {Obaida ELMODALAL Eitan BRONSCHTEIN Andreas MÜLLER Ferdinand SASVÁRY and Peter KIŠAC},
  year = 2026,
  url = {https://ibimapublishing.com/p-articles/47ISM/2026/4733726/},
  journal = {Communications of International Proceedings},
  volume = 2026 (7),
  abstract = {Populations are ageing rapidly and Internet of Things technologies are increasingly promoted to extend healthcare into the homes of older adults, to support independent living, and to prevent avoidable errors in geriatric care. Yet the people who stand to gain most from connected care are frequently the least connected. Much of the existing literature evaluates the technical capability or clinical efficacy of these systems, while the prior question of who can actually reach them is treated as secondary. This narrative review addresses that gap by reading digital divides and structural barriers through a public health lens rather than a technical one. Drawing on a corpus assembled through structured searches of bibliographic databases and screened in two stages, with 159 eligible studies retained, it synthesises empirical and review evidence on access to IoT-enabled care in later life. The evidence describes three connected layers of disadvantage: unequal access and connectivity, unequal digital and health literacy and unequal health outcomes. Reported uptake of internet-based and remote health services among older adults remains low across very different national settings, digital literacy declines steeply with age and unmet need persists even among those who do go online. Acceptance studies add barriers of trust, privacy, cost, infrastructure and human support. Taken together, the findings indicate that IoT-enabled care will widen rather than narrow inequalities unless access, literacy, and structural support are treated as design and policy priorities from the outset.},
  keywords = {digital divide; older adults; Internet of Things; healthcare access; digital health literacy; health equity},
  note = Article ID: 4733726
}