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Bridging the Digital Divide: Community-Engaged Strategies for Implementing Technology in Rural Adult Day Centers
Tina R. Sadarangani. Innovation in Aging, 2025-12-01
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Abstract Successfully embedding technology into long-term care settings requires intentional, evidence-based community engagement strategies that address the unique needs of providers, caregivers, and persons living with dementia. This presentation will explore the implementation of CareMobi, a HIPAA-compliant mobile health application designed to enhance communication between adult day centers and family caregivers, within a rural, under-resourced adult day center setting and identify key components of a community-engaged approach to technology implementation that prioritized collaborative design, staff training, and iterative adaptation to fit the center’s workflows. Drawing from qualitative and quantitative data, we identify successful approaches to recruitment, intervention design, and implementation of CareMobi that address digital literacy among staff and caregivers, infrastructure limitations, and the importance of trust-building in rural communities. We identified strategies that supported sustained engagement, including co-developing implementation protocols and recruitment strategies with frontline staff, an iterative user centered process for designing the app, leveraging existing caregiving networks, and aligning technology use with reimbursement structures and regulatory requirements. Findings from 2 centers and n = 17 participants, suggest that CareMobi improved information-sharing between adult day center staff and families, enabling earlier identification of health changes and care coordination needs. By providing insights into real-world application, this presentation will contribute to the broader discussion of how researchers and practitioners can effectively introduce and sustain technology in community-based long-term care settings. The lessons learned from this rural implementation will offer a framework for scalable, equitable adoption of digital health tools across diverse adult day center environments.
Key findings
- Findings from 2 centers and n = 17 participants, suggest that CareMobi improved information-sharing between adult day center staff and families, enabling earlier identification of health changes and care coordination needs.
Why it matters
This presentation describes implementing a mobile health app in rural adult day centers to improve communication between staff and family caregivers of persons living with dementia. Findings come from only 2 centers and 17 participants and concern information-sharing and care coordination, not treatment, cure, or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
Study details
- Participants17
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 32/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Innovation in Aging) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Innovation in Aging: journal h-index 48 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 17 participants |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 0 / 7 | Cited 0 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 0 / 5 | 0.0 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 0 / 6 | Cited 0.0× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 0 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 1 / 4 | Last-listed author Tina R. Sadarangani: h-index 15 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | New York University: institution h-index 1,612 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 32 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Sadarangani, T. R. (2025). Bridging the Digital Divide: Community-Engaged Strategies for Implementing Technology in Rural Adult Day Centers. Innovation in Aging. https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaf122.989
Vancouver
Sadarangani TR. Bridging the Digital Divide: Community-Engaged Strategies for Implementing Technology in Rural Adult Day Centers. Innovation in Aging. 2025. doi:10.1093/geroni/igaf122.989.
BibTeX
@article{sadarangani2025-cba37809,
author = {Sadarangani, Tina R.},
title = {{Bridging the Digital Divide: Community-Engaged Strategies for Implementing Technology in Rural Adult Day Centers}},
journal = {Innovation in Aging},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1093/geroni/igaf122.989},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/geroni/igaf122.989}
}