Behavioral Patterns of Supply and Demand Sides of Health Services for the Elderly in Sustainable Digital Transformation: A Mixed Methods Study

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 5;19(13):8221. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19138221.

Abstract

The aging transformation of digital health services faces issues of how to distinguish influencing factors, redesign services, and effectively promote measures and policies. In this study, in-depth interviews were conducted, and grounded theory applied to open coding, main axis coding, and selective coding to form concepts and categories. Trajectory equifinality modeling clarified the evolution logic of digital transformation. Based on the theory of service ecology, a digital health service aging model was constructed from the "macro-medium-micro" stages and includes governance, service, and technology transformation paths. The macro stage relies on organizational elements to promote the institutionalization of management and guide the transformation of governance for value realization, including the construction of three categories: mechanism, indemnification, and decision-making. The meso stage relies on service elements to promote service design and realize service transformation that is suitable for aging design, including the construction of three categories: organization, resources, and processes. The micro stage relies on technical elements to practice experiencing humanization, including the construction of three categories: target, methods, and evaluation. These results deepen the understanding of the main behaviors and roles of macro-organizational, meso-service, and micro-technical elements in digital transformation practice and have positive significance for health administrative agencies to implement action strategies.

Keywords: digital transformation; health service; service ecological theory; suitable for aging; sustainability.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Health Services
  • Health Services for the Aged*
  • Humans

Grants and funding

This research was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant number 72104068; The Ministry of education of Humanities and Social Science project, grant number 21YJC630180; Philosophy and Social Science Foundation Project of Hangzhou, grant number Z20JC100.