Digital Health for Healthy Ageing and the Care Capacity Gap

Objective: To examine the relationship between population ageing and care capacity and assess how digital health may address selected gaps in healthcare, long-term care and social support across India, Germany, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands.Design: Comparative scoping review informed by the PRISMA-ScR reporting framework. Publicly accessible peer-reviewed and authoritative demographic, health-system, policy and digital-health sources published from January 2010 to August 2026 were synthesised thematically.Setting: Five contrasting national healthcare and social-care contexts: India, Germany, the United States, Canada and the Netherlands.Results: The comparison indicates that ageing pressure and care capacity vary substantially across countries. The proportion of adults aged 65 years and above ranges from approximately 7% in India to more than 20% in Germany and the Netherlands. Health-system resources, long-term-care workforce and potential demographic support also differ considerably. Digital-health capabilities—including telehealth, electronic health records, patient portals, remote monitoring and digital information exchange—can address selected barriers involving geographic access, continuity, monitoring, coordination and caregiver involvement. However, availability does not guarantee benefit; digital literacy, affordability, connectivity, usability, trust and sustained engagement influence outcomes.Conclusions: Healthy ageing requires a systems approach that combines formal healthcare, long-term care, financial and social protection, family support and community resources. Digital health should function as an enabling layer rather than a substitute for human-centred care. The proposed human-centred framework, comprising access, capability, adoption, sustained use and healthy-ageing benefit, provides a structured basis for assessing whether digital-health investment translates into meaningful benefits for older adults.