The ADOPT Model: Accelerating Diffusion of Proven Technologies for Older Adults

The growing older adult population faces unprecedented health challenges. Home and community-based technologies have proven to be an effective way of helping older adults improve health outcomes and maintain independence.

However, such technologies are currently not widely used by older adults for health purposes. Nor have they been widely adopted by the providers serving older adults; to date, successful health technology diffusion has occurred mainly within capitated and integrated health systems, such as the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and Kaiser Permanente (KP).

This article presents a conceptual model of technology diffusion, ADOPT (Accelerating Diffusion of Proven Technologies), which discusses important considerations for diffusing health technologies in home and community-based settings for older adults.

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At the center of the ADOPT model is a framework that highlights factors that affect technology adoption and use relevant to older adults, their collaborators, and their context. The model then overlays seven important “diffusion strategies” that older adults’ collaborators (including technology companies, aging services organizations, formal/informal caregivers, family members, medical providers, insurance companies, and others) can undertake to help facilitate technology diffusion.

In this article, readers will be introduced to the ADOPT model and learn how it can be used to guide older adults’ collaborators in achieving greater technology diffusion, in order to create widespread health outcome improvements and promote independent living for this population.

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