{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T06:05:24Z","timestamp":1790661924782,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790640000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Population ageing and rapid digitalisation of health and care services have raised concerns about whether older adults are adequately considered in digital policy design. Although digital inclusion is an increasingly visible policy goal, little is known about how national policy instruments embed digital inclusion or respond to older adults\u2019 multidimensional needs.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We developed a Policy Alignment Framework linking policy instruments, digital inclusion orientations, and older adults\u2019 needs. A quantitative content analysis was conducted on 35 national-level smart health and older adult care policy documents issued in China between 2013 and 2025. In total, 1,033 policy statements were coded and analysed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, Pearson\u2019s chi-square tests, Cramer\u2019s V, and adjusted standardised residuals.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Digital inclusion was structured but unevenly embedded in national policy design. Among all coded statements, 48.8% contained no explicit digital inclusion orientation, 42.2% addressed access and environment, and only 9.0% addressed capability-building and safety protections. Policy instruments were significantly associated with digital inclusion orientations. Technology\/data and platform interconnection instruments were over-represented in access- and environment-oriented inclusion, while capability-building and safety-protection measures were mainly concentrated in fiscal and regulatory instruments. Older adults\u2019 needs were also unevenly aligned with digital inclusion. Health care and service access needs dominated the policy corpus, whereas social\u2013emotional support, development and autonomy, and participation-oriented needs received limited attention. Overall, digital inclusion was framed mainly as infrastructure, platform development, and service accessibility rather than a broader capability, affordability, safety, and participation challenge.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study identifies an access-oriented and uneven embedding pattern of digital inclusion across policy instruments and need domains in China\u2019s national smart health and older adult care policy design. Moving towards equity-sensitive digital ageing policy requires greater attention to capability-building, affordability support, safety protection, offline fallback arrangements, and participation-oriented support. The Policy Alignment Framework offers a transferable tool for assessing digital inclusion governance in ageing and digitally transforming societies. As this study examines national policy design rather than implementation outcomes, the findings indicate policy intent and textual orientation, not actual digital inclusion effects.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1944635","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T05:51:03Z","timestamp":1790661063000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Digital inclusion in China\u2019s national smart health and older adult care policy design: an access-oriented and uneven embedding pattern, 2013\u20132025"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Haiyan","family":"Wu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Humanities and Management, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Miao","family":"Xing","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Humanities and Management, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yunhan","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Humanities and Management, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Jia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Qinming","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Humanities and Management, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine","place":["Harbin, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Statistical Communiqu\u00e9 of the People's Republic of China on the 2025 National Economic and Social Development","year":"2026"},{"key":"ref2","first-page":"17","article-title":"Analysis framework, concept, and pathways of digital divide governance for older adults: from the perspective of digital divide and knowledge gap theory","volume":"45","author":"Lu","year":"2021","journal-title":"Popul Res"},{"key":"ref3","volume-title":"The Digital Divide","author":"van Dijk","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4135\/9781526492982","volume-title":"The Digital Disconnect: The Social Causes and Consequences of Digital Inequalities","author":"Helsper","year":"2021"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1607","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tele.2017.07.007","article-title":"Determinants of 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