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Technology Empowerment and Virtual-Real Integration: Innovative Pathways of Elderly Care Models from the Perspective of the Metaverse

Author(s)

Yonglan Liang

Affiliation(s)

School of Humanities, Jinan University, Jinan, China

Abstract

With the continuous growth of China's elderly population, the demand for elderly care is gradually shifting from basic survival needs to higher-level developmental needs. Based on Maslow's hierarchy of needs and social support theory, the characteristics of this transitional process reveal a structural contradiction in traditional elderly care models, particularly in their ability to meet spiritual and cultural needs and provide support for social participation. To address this contradiction, there is an urgent need to construct a theoretical framework for a metaverse-empowered elderly care model, utilizing virtual-real fusion technology. This model aims to effectively break through the spatio-temporal limitations of traditional elderly care services through a closed-loop system encompassing demand capture via smart terminals, resource integration on a metaverse platform, collaborative provision by multiple entities, and a feedback and guarantee service mechanism. Although metaverse technology shows significant advantages in applications such as remote medical rehabilitation, virtual social interaction, and immersive education for the elderly, its development still faces potential challenges, including an infrastructure access gap, the risk of digital addiction, and the lack of a regulatory system. Accordingly, an optimized path forward is proposed, focusing on improving digital infrastructure, clarifying the boundary between the virtual and real, and strengthening institutional design to further advance the digital transformation of an aging society.

Keywords

Metaverse; Elderly Care Model Innovation; Elderly Care Demand; Virtual-Real Integration

References

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