Digital Technology for Active and Healthy Ageing in Taiwan

Recruiting now

Conditions studied: Healthy Aging, Digital Health Literacy

In brief

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.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT07232667

Run by

China Medical University Hospital

People needed

140

Starts

2026-04-22

Expected to finish

2029-12-31

Last updated by the study team

2026-05-18

Who can join

Age: 60 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Currently living or receiving care in a stable environment for at least four weeks prior to enrollment:
• For community-based participants: must have resided at the same address for ≥4 weeks.
• For day-care participants: must have attended activities at the same dementia or elderly day-care center for ≥4 weeks.
• Able and willing to participate in the study procedures.
• Informed consent must be obtained before participation.
• If the participant's cognitive function has declined to a level that prevents self-consent, written consent will be obtained from a legally authorized representative or primary caregiver.

You may not qualify if…

• Unstable physical or psychological condition that makes participation unsafe, as determined by a clinical investigator - e.g., acute delirium or current respiratory infection (including COVID-19).
• Any known allergy or skin sensitivity to the materials used in the Geneactiv actigraphy device or iCue sensor pad.
• Any other medical, neurological, or behavioral condition deemed unsuitable for participation by the study physician.

Where it is running

• China Medical University Beigang Hospital — London, Alabama, United Kingdom (enrolling)

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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