JOURNAL ARTICLE · EDITORIAL BRIEF
Identifying Skill and Usability Barriers to Digital Health Tool Use Among Older Adult Patients in US Safety Net Clinics: Mixed Methods Study
Taylor Rapson; Magaly Ramirez; Sandy He; Jeanette Wong; Hyunjin Cindy Kim; Isabel Luna; Andersen Yang; Junhong Li; Paul A Fishman; James D Ralston; Courtney R Lyles; Elaine C Khoong
JMIR Human Factors · 4 May 2026 · Background
The finding or development
Routine digital-health tasks exposed both interface barriers and difficulties with foundational operations such as typing and navigation. Only 31 of 60 participants attempting the website-address task completed it independently.
What supports it
Mixed-methods observation of 64 patients aged 50 or older completing four digital-health tasks.
Reviewed: Publisher abstract, methods overview, discussion and limitations; recordings and underlying data not reviewed.
Why it matters for design
Useful background for testing the complete route into a service, including links, sign-in and device operations. Support needs should inform design rather than be treated solely as a user deficit.
Read with this in mind
One health system and small language subgroups limit transfer. Tasks were in English, with assistance in preferred languages; observation may have influenced performance. The portal emulator did not represent native-app use.
Original source
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DOI: 10.2196/78430
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