Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40623299›Full record

ArticleJMIR mental health2025

Quantitative Research on Digitalized Treatment Options for Older Adults With Mental Illness: Scoping Review.

Jennifer Anne Stanford, Sandra Anna Just

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors.

Jennifer Anne Stanford *Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5592-3828
Sandra Anna Just *Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Campus Charité Mitte, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8833-1805

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOlder adults with mental illness face specific physical and psychosocial challenges and inequities, reflected in limited access to advanced technology. This digital divide is alarming as mental health interventions increasingly depend on both patients' and clinicians' access to technology. However, digitalized treatments also present opportunities to enhance accessibility, effectiveness, and equity across age groups.

objectiveThis scoping review charted the state of quantitative research on digitalized treatment options for older people with mental illness. We focused specifically on how technology is integrated into existing nonpharmacological mental health interventions or leveraged to create new ones. We also summarized the state of the art on the feasibility and effectiveness of these interventions for various mental illnesses.

methodsThis review was conducted in compliance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines for systematic scoping reviews. A PubMed search conducted in April 2024 and updated in April 2025 identified 64 studies (15,644 participants; aged 40-97 years). Included studies were original quantitative studies or reviews of these studies looking into nonpharmacological treatments for older adults with a psychiatric diagnosis using any kind of technology.

resultsThe technologies examined ranged from web-based psychotherapy platforms and digital devices for daily challenges to robots for social interaction. Few studies (5/64, 7%) examined the newest advances in digital mental health, such as artificial intelligence or virtual reality. Most studies (37/64, 58%) evaluated dementia-related interventions using small, nonrandomized samples and uncontrolled designs.

conclusionsThe current state of the field, despite the promises of technology to reduce inequities between age groups, still largely excludes older adults from research on technological advances in mental health and their benefits. The field needs to overcome this selective bias and fight the "digital gray divide" in mental health.

Indexed as

Mental DisordersTelemedicineAdultAgedAged, 80 and overHumansMiddle Agedartificial intelligencedementiadigitalinterventionmental illnessolder peoplepsychotherapytechnology

Identifiers

PMID40623299
PMCPMC12280835

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.