Interface design failure as a social determinant of health.
Digital exclusion from essential services is conventionally framed as a user deficiency requiring digital literacy training. We challenge this perspective, arguing that exclusion results from structural interface design failures rather than individual incapacity. This analysis positions interface de...
| Publicado en: | Gerontologist Vol. 66; no. 7; pp. 1 - 9 |
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| Autores principales: | , , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Oxford University Press / USA
Jul2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=195281412&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 195281412 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00169013 GET jtl: Gerontologist issn: 00169013 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 66 iid: 7 pid: 622 pub: Oxford University Press / USA artinfo: ui: 195281412 10.1093/geront/gnag074 ppf: 1 ppct: 8 formats: tig: atl: Interface design failure as a social determinant of health. aug: au: Cohrs, Frederico Molina Mello, Maria Aparecida Ferreira de Ramos, Luiz Roberto affil: Escola Paulista de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil Departamento de Geriatria, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil Departamento de Medicina Preventiva, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil su: Health services accessibility Social determinants of health Health policy Human rights Labor supply Digital divide Digital health Software architecture User interfaces sug: subj: Health services accessibility Social determinants of health Health policy Human rights Labor supply Temporary Help Services Administration of Public Health Programs Computer systems design and related services (except video game design and development) Digital divide Digital health Software architecture User interfaces keyword: aged Compulsory digitization copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 demography Digital exclusion homogeneity https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnag074 inLanguage:en interface design Older adults publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42054587/ WIMP paradigm workforce aged Compulsory digitization copyrightHolder:The Gerontological Society of America copyrightYear:2026 demography Digital exclusion homogeneity https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnag074 inLanguage:en interface design Older adults publisher:Oxford University Press sameAs:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42054587/ WIMP paradigm workforce ab: Digital exclusion from essential services is conventionally framed as a user deficiency requiring digital literacy training. We challenge this perspective, arguing that exclusion results from structural interface design failures rather than individual incapacity. This analysis positions interface design as a social determinant of health, examining how design decisions create systematic barriers to healthcare, social services, and civic participation. We synthesize evidence from multiple global contexts examining the persistence of the Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointer (WIMP) paradigm developed in the 1970s, structural bias in contemporary design processes, and health consequences of compulsory digitization. The WIMP paradigm persists despite five decades of demographic change, embedding assumptions about visual acuity, motor control, and technical literacy that systematically exclude older adults and other populations. Homogeneous design workforces reproduce these exclusionary patterns. Compulsory digitization transforms design failures into barriers to fundamental rights: 38% of U.S. adults aged 65+ were unprepared for telehealth during COVID-19; digital-only healthcare scheduling excludes patients lacking smartphone proficiency; interface complexity correlates with functional dependence and accelerated cognitive decline in older populations. Addressing interface design as a social determinant of health requires comprehensive intervention: regulatory frameworks mandating accessibility across essential services, genuine co-design with excluded populations, cultural adaptation, workforce diversification, exploration of post-WIMP paradigms, and policy commitments recognizing accessible design as a fundamental right rather than accommodation. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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