Factors Affecting Chinese Young Adults’ Acceptance of Connected Health

Abstract

The global health care industry faces several challenges, such as an aging population, insufficient medical resources, and uneven allocation of high-quality medical resources. These challenges impede the development of a sustainable medical care system. Connected health aims to relieve these challenges by deploying information technology in healthcare. However, there is a lack of research on adoption of connected health and as a result, its acceptance rate is still low. This study summarized 25 potential factors that may affect its acceptance, and ranked their importance by performing a best–worst scaling experiment. Fifteen important factors were distinguished, which included nine technological factors, five individual factors, and one environmental factor. To explore how these factors affect individuals’ acceptance of connected health, this study conducted a qualitative study based on grounded theory. We coded the contents collected in a semi-structural interview by applying open coding, axial coding, and selective coding techniques. Finally, nine core categories were distinguished, and a conceptual model was proposed to explain how these core categories affect individuals’ acceptance of connected health. This study deepens our understanding of factors affecting the acceptance of connected health and helps build a sustainable medical care system.

Fad or Trend? Rethinking the Sustainability of Connected Health

“…In brief, CH arose as a result of three factors. First, there is a tendency to pursue excellence in healthcare, such as by promoting and monitoring quality, efficiency, safety, and customer service [1,32,33]. Health professionals and institutions desire better access, quality, and efficiency of care [34,35].…”

“…Quality improvement and fewer or less severe caregiver shortages are evident. These benefits overlap in improvements to healthcare accessibility, cost-effectiveness, and quality [32][33][34][35]. Many international CH pilot schemes show application feasibility; however, the cost saving is not significant.…”

Determinants and Cross-National Moderators of Wearable Health Tracker Adoption: A Meta-Analysis

“…Wearable health trackers can monitor a user's biophysical and biochemical information and thus can help individuals improve lifestyle-related disorders and personal care [1,2]. In light of this, wearable health trackers provide benefits to a person's quality of life and contribute to the growing public interest in health and the sustainability of the society [2,3]. Especially in tracking and fighting the progression of COVID-19, wearable technology plays a key role [4].…”