With the trend of global population aging and digital transformation, the problem of the digital divide among older adults has become increasingly serious. Narrowing the digital divide is a necessary way to improve the physical and mental health of older adults. Since the impact of the digital divide on the physical and mental health of older adults is a dynamic process involving feedback effects among multiple factors, this paper constructs a dynamic simulation model from the system dynamics perspective, and including variables such as digital literacy level, positive attitude toward aging, social network support intensity, and overall health and well-being. This study examines the feedback mechanisms by which digital divide affects the physical and mental health of older adults, overcoming the limitation of traditional empirical research in capturing dynamic interactions occurring within the system. The results show that the overall health and well-being of older adults increases 28% over the 100-month simulation period, showing an upward trend at first and then tends to stabilize. Sensitivity analysis indicates that the influence of policy support intensity, intensity of digital reverse mentoring in families, and digital device age-friendly adaptation level on the overall health and well-being of older adults decreases in that order. Based on the results, this paper identifies positive attitude toward aging, social adaptability, and social network support intensity as mediating variables in the empowerment of older adults’ physical and mental health through digital technology, thereby enriching the application of system dynamics in the field of digital health.
Shao et al. (2026) studied this question.