Digital Technology for Active and Healthy Ageing in Taiwan

Summary

Taiwan is entering a super-aged society in 2025, with more than 20% of the population aged 65 years or older. This rapid demographic shift, combined with increasing rates of chronic diseases, frailty, and dementia, has created growing challenges for healthcare and caregiving systems. Yunlin County, particularly its coastal region, has been one of Taiwan's earliest super-aged areas, showing higher rates of diabetes (10.5%), hypertension (28%), hyperlipidemia (26%), dementia (8%), and depression (12%) compared with national averages. Lifestyle factors such as tobacco (30%), betel nut (8%), and alcohol (15%) use are also more prevalent among local residents.

From 2022 to 2024, health screenings at CMU Beigang Hospital revealed a 36.1% abnormality rate among 12,222 visits, while another 5,965 assessments from the county's ICOPE program showed similarly high rates. Many older adults, particularly retired agricultural and fishing workers, experience sedentary lifestyles and polypharmacy-related risks, which worsen frailty, insomnia, depression, and cognitive decline. Low general and digital health literacy further limits their ability to adopt preventive behaviors, forming a vicious cycle between poor health and aging.

To address these challenges, the Ministry of Health and Welfare launched the "Healthy Taiwan Cultivation Plan." In alignment with this initiative, this project-led by CMU Beigang Hospital in collaboration with the National Health Research Institutes-aims to develop a wearable- and mobile-based health promotion model for rural older adults. The study will integrate research-grade actigraphy (Geneactiv), a mobile health platform ("iMED"), and the in-bed sensor iCue to monitor behavior, promote active aging, and enhance health and digital literacy. Ultimately, this project seeks to establish Taiwan's first integrated digital aging database and identify digital biomarkers for predicting cognitive and functional decline in older adults.

Conditions

• Healthy Aging
• Digital Health Literacy

Interventions

DEVICE

Geneactiv

Participants will wear a research-grade actigraphy device (Geneactiv original, developed by Activinsights UK) on the non-dominant wrist for at least two consecutive weeks to continuously record physical activity, sleep-wake patterns, and light exposure. The visualised results will be presented to the participants to motivate their behavioural change.

BEHAVIORAL

iMED Mobile Health Platform

Participants will use the "iMED" mobile application developed by the National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan (https://www.nhri.imed-health.com/). The platform provides personalized health education, medication reminders, AI-driven feedback on wearable data, and links to Taiwan's National Health Insurance health records.

DEVICE

iCue

A non-invasive smart mat (iCue) placed under the mattress continuously monitors respiration rate, movement, and sleep parameters in participants with limited mobility.

BEHAVIORAL

Aging Well Taiwan

Participants will attend a community-based educational course adapted from Singapore's "Aging Well" framework, covering physical activity, diet, cognitive health, and digital literacy. The program follows the WHO Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) model and supports active aging and social participation.

BIOLOGICAL

Blood Biomarker Sampling

Participants will provide venous blood samples at baseline and follow-up visits for analysis of dementia-related biomarkers, including total Tau, phosphorylated Tau 181 (pT181), phosphorylated Tau 217 (pT217), amyloid beta 1-40 (Aβ40), amyloid beta 1-42 (Aβ42), and neurofilament light chain (NfL), as well as apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotyping.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Ministry of Health and Welfare, Taiwan

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• China Medical University Hospital

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-03-01

Primary Completion

2028-12-31

Completion

2029-12-31

Countries

• United Kingdom

Study Locations