In brief
This narrative review of 26 studies (2013-2024) found technology use improved mental health among socially isolated immigrant older adults, but benefits depended on cultural, linguistic, and educational fit, and most eligible studies focused on Asian immigrants in North America.
What this article is about
Quick Answer
This narrative review of 26 studies (2013-2024) found technology use improved mental health among socially isolated immigrant older adults, but benefits depended on cultural, linguistic, and educational fit, and most eligible studies focused on Asian immigrants in North America.
Student takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Across 26 peer-reviewed articles published between 2013 and 2024, technology use was associated with improved mental health among socially isolated immigrant older adults.
- The benefits of technology use were not uniform, and were shaped by predisposing factors including cultural differences, linguistic differences, and prior educational background.
- Because benefit depended on fit rather than access alone, the review emphasized that technology adaptation must account for these predisposing factors, so that tools designed around users' language and cultural preferences are more acceptable to this population than one-size-fits-all approaches.
- The eligible literature showed an unexpected and unplanned concentration of studies on older Asian immigrants living in a North American context, revealing a gap in the evidence base for other immigrant populations and regions.
- The authors concluded that promoting technology adaptation among immigrant older adults requires collaborative partnership among healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers, alongside continued research into the technology-psychosocial support relationship.
Student summary
Why This Research Matters
As people move to a new country later in life, they often lose the everyday social contact that comes from a familiar neighborhood, language, and community. This narrative review, published in the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research by Kateryna Metersky and colleagues at Toronto Metropolitan University, asks a focused question: what role can technology play in helping socially isolated immigrant older adults feel connected again, and what stands in the way?
The researchers searched peer-reviewed literature published between 2013 and 2024 and identified 26 articles that met their inclusion criteria. One thing surprised the team right away: even though they were not looking specifically for any one ethnocultural group, the eligible studies were dominated by research on older Asian immigrants living in North America. That pattern itself became part of the story, because it means much of what we know about this topic may not reflect the experiences of immigrant older adults from other regions, such as Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, or Africa.
Across the studies they reviewed, the authors found that technology use was associated with better mental health among socially isolated immigrant older adults. Devices and platforms such as smartphones, video calling, and home-based electronic tools gave people a way to stay in touch with family (including family left behind in their country of origin), build new social ties, and manage day-to-day tasks with more independence. Importantly, the review also found that the benefits were not automatic or equal for everyone. How much someone gained from technology depended heavily on whether the tool matched their language, their cultural expectations, and their prior experience with formal education. Because of this, the authors emphasize that technology adaptation designed with these factors in mind, for example approaches that address language barriers directly or build in familiar cultural cues, is more likely to be acceptable and useful to this population than one-size-fits-all technology rollouts.
This matters for nursing because immigrant older adults are a growing part of the Canadian population, and nurses in community health, home care, primary care, and long-term care settings are often the ones who notice when a patient seems withdrawn, anxious, or cut off from support. The review's message is not that handing someone a tablet or a smartphone automatically solves social isolation. Instead, it suggests that technology can be a genuinely useful tool for psychosocial wellbeing, but only when it is introduced alongside attention to language, culture, digital literacy, and the person's own comfort level with formal learning. A nurse who recommends a video-calling app to a socially isolated older patient, for instance, should also think about whether that app is available in the patient's preferred language, whether someone can walk them through it in a culturally comfortable way, and whether ongoing support is available if they get stuck.
The authors are careful to describe this as an emerging picture, not a finished one. Because the review is a narrative synthesis rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis, it draws together patterns and themes across diverse studies rather than pooling numerical results into a single effect size. The heavy representation of Asian immigrant populations in North America also means the conclusions cannot simply be generalized to all immigrant older adults everywhere. The authors call for continued exploration of the relationship between technology use and psychosocial support, and they specifically recommend collaborative partnerships between healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers to make technology adaptation more accessible and equitable for this population.
For nursing students, this article is a useful reminder that a technology-based intervention is never just about the device. Its real-world effectiveness depends on how well it fits the person using it. When you read about a health technology intervention for any population, ask who was actually studied, what cultural and linguistic supports were built into the intervention, and whether the findings would reasonably transfer to the patients in front of you.
Source abstract
Study Overview
Technology has been integrated into every aspect of life for interpersonal support and connections and social isolation has become a hotspot topic for health promotion in nursing among various populations, but little attention has been paid to immigrant older adults using technology to overcome social isolation. The purpose of this narrative review is to comprehend the role of technology use in the context of social isolation, including the predisposing factors, encountered by immigrant older adults to support their psychosocial wellbeing. By studying relevant peer-reviewed articles published in professional databases from 2013 to 2024, 26 articles met the criteria and were accessed for this narrative review, despite an unexpected participant selection preference of older Asian immigrants living in a North American context among these eligible papers. It is discovered that technology use has improved the mental health of socially-isolated immigrant older adults. However, the benefits of technology use for these individuals are constrained by cultural and linguistic differences as well as educational backgrounds. Therefore, technology adaptation should be promoted in this population through a collaborative partnership with healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers and policymakers. There should be further exploration of the interrelationships between technology use and psychosocial support and continuous striving for the most suitable approach for social isolation prevention among immigrant older adults.
Evidence appraisal
Main Findings
- Across 26 peer-reviewed articles published between 2013 and 2024, technology use was associated with improved mental health among socially isolated immigrant older adults.
- The benefits of technology use were not uniform, and were shaped by predisposing factors including cultural differences, linguistic differences, and prior educational background.
- Because benefit depended on fit rather than access alone, the review emphasized that technology adaptation must account for these predisposing factors, so that tools designed around users' language and cultural preferences are more acceptable to this population than one-size-fits-all approaches.
- The eligible literature showed an unexpected and unplanned concentration of studies on older Asian immigrants living in a North American context, revealing a gap in the evidence base for other immigrant populations and regions.
- The authors concluded that promoting technology adaptation among immigrant older adults requires collaborative partnership among healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers, alongside continued research into the technology-psychosocial support relationship.
Practice transfer
Clinical Relevance
- When introducing technology (e.g., video calling, self-management apps) to a socially isolated immigrant older adult, nurses should assess language preference and offer materials or walkthroughs in that language rather than assuming English or French proficiency.
- Nurses in community health, home care, and primary care should consider a patient's cultural background and prior education level when selecting or recommending a technology tool, since these factors influence uptake and sustained use according to this review.
- When technology is used to support older immigrant patients (for example video calling or home-based health applications), pairing it with culturally and linguistically tailored orientation and follow-up is more likely to succeed than providing access alone, consistent with the review's emphasis on adaptation over one-size-fits-all rollouts.
- Given the evidence base's concentration on Asian immigrant populations in North America, nurses should apply findings cautiously when working with immigrant older adults from other ethnocultural backgrounds and validate assumptions with the individual patient rather than generalizing.
- Nurses and interprofessional teams are well positioned to advocate for and participate in collaborative technology-adaptation initiatives with educators, researchers, and policymakers, as the authors recommend, rather than treating technology access as a purely IT or social-services issue.
Faculty notes
Educational Relevance
This narrative review by Metersky, Lin, Guruge, Zhuang, Catallo, and Chandrasekaran (Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 2025) synthesizes peer-reviewed literature from 2013 to 2024 on technology use among socially isolated immigrant older adults. Twenty-six articles met the authors' eligibility criteria. A notable methodological finding in itself was the composition of the eligible literature: despite no a priori focus on any single ethnocultural group, the retrieved studies were disproportionately concentrated on older Asian immigrants living in North America. The authors treat this as a substantive gap rather than a footnote, flagging it as evidence that the empirical base for this topic is ethnoculturally and geographically narrow.
The review's central finding is that technology use is associated with improved mental health and psychosocial wellbeing among socially isolated immigrant older adults. However, the authors are explicit that these benefits are conditional rather than universal: cultural and linguistic differences, along with prior educational background, constrain how much benefit a given individual or subgroup realizes from a technology intervention. The review therefore frames culturally and linguistically responsive technology adaptation, rather than access alone, as central to realizing benefit in this population. This is a useful teaching point on intervention fidelity and cultural safety: a technology's clinical or psychosocial effectiveness cannot be considered independent of how well it is adapted to the population using it.
Methodologically, this is a narrative review, not a systematic review or meta-analysis, and the authors do not report a formal quality-appraisal tool, pooled effect estimates, or PRISMA-style flow diagram in the abstract. This distinction is worth highlighting for students learning to differentiate review types: a narrative review is well suited to mapping a nascent, heterogeneous literature and identifying thematic patterns and gaps, but it does not support causal or generalizable quantitative claims in the way a systematic review with meta-analysis would. The 26 included studies were also published across a decade with likely variation in technology types (from basic video calling to purpose-built self-management platforms), study designs, and outcome measures, which limits direct comparability.
For teaching purposes, this article works well as a springboard for discussions on health equity, digital literacy, and culturally responsive care planning in gerontological and community health nursing. It also illustrates how a review's own sampling patterns (here, the unplanned dominance of Asian immigrant populations in North America) can become a finding that shapes recommendations. The authors' call to action centers on collaborative partnerships among healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers to promote more equitable technology adaptation, and on continued research into the interrelationship between technology use and psychosocial support across a broader range of immigrant older adult populations.
Instructors can use this article to prompt appraisal exercises: asking students to identify what a narrative review can and cannot claim, to consider the implications of a skewed sample for practice recommendations, and to translate the predisposing-factors framing (language, culture, education) into a concrete cultural-safety checklist for technology-based interventions in home care, primary care, or community outreach with immigrant older adult populations.
Critical appraisal
Limitations
- This is a narrative review rather than a systematic review or meta-analysis, so it synthesizes themes across studies without a formal quality-appraisal protocol or pooled quantitative effect estimates reported in the abstract.
- The 26 included articles were disproportionately concentrated on older Asian immigrants living in North America, an unplanned sampling pattern that limits generalizability of the findings to immigrant older adults from other regions and ethnocultural backgrounds.
- The review spans studies published from 2013 to 2024, a period of substantial change in technology itself; findings drawn from earlier studies may not reflect the capabilities, accessibility, or adoption patterns of newer devices and platforms.
Classroom use
Discussion Questions
- Why might a narrative review be a more appropriate method than a systematic review for a relatively new and heterogeneous research area like technology use among immigrant older adults?
- What does it mean that the eligible studies in this review were disproportionately about older Asian immigrants in North America, and how should that shape how you apply the findings to other immigrant populations?
- What predisposing factors did the authors identify as shaping the benefits of technology use, and how would you assess for each of these factors in a real patient encounter?
- How might language barriers specifically undermine the benefit of an otherwise well-designed technology intervention, even if the underlying device or app works well technically?
- What role could home-based electronic self-management tools play for an immigrant older adult managing a chronic condition, and what supports would need to be in place for it to succeed?
- The authors call for collaborative partnership among healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers. What would that collaboration look like in a specific Canadian community health setting?
- How would you design a culturally responsive technology orientation session for a socially isolated immigrant older adult who has limited formal education and does not speak English or French as a first language?
- What ethical considerations arise when technology-based interventions for social isolation are studied predominantly in one ethnocultural group but then generalized in policy or funding decisions to immigrant older adults broadly?
- How does social isolation differ conceptually from loneliness, and why might that distinction matter when evaluating whether a technology intervention actually addresses the underlying problem?
- If you were designing a follow-up study to fill the gap this review identifies, what population, setting, and outcome measures would you prioritize, and why?
Knowledge check
Quiz
1. What type of review is this article?
- A randomized controlled trial
- A narrative review
- A systematic review with meta-analysis
- A case study
Rationale: The abstract states the purpose is "to comprehend the role of technology use..." through "this narrative review."
2. How many articles met the eligibility criteria for this review?
- 12 articles
- 18 articles
- 26 articles
- 34 articles
Rationale: The abstract states: "26 articles met the criteria and were accessed for this narrative review."
3. What date range of published articles did the reviewers search?
- 2000 to 2010
- 2010 to 2020
- 2013 to 2024
- 2015 to 2025
Rationale: The abstract describes studying "relevant peer-reviewed articles published in professional databases from 2013 to 2024."
4. What unexpected pattern did the authors note among the eligible papers?
- A preference for studies conducted only in rural settings
- A preference for older Asian immigrants living in a North American context
- A preference for studies using randomized controlled trial designs
- A preference for male participants over female participants
Rationale: The abstract notes "an unexpected participant selection preference of older Asian immigrants living in a North American context among these eligible papers."
5. What did the review find regarding technology use and mental health?
- Technology use had no measurable effect on mental health
- Technology use worsened mental health due to overreliance on devices
- Technology use has improved the mental health of socially-isolated immigrant older adults
- Technology use only benefited younger immigrants, not older adults
Rationale: The abstract states: "It is discovered that technology use has improved the mental health of socially-isolated immigrant older adults."
6. According to the review, what constrains the benefits of technology use for immigrant older adults?
- Cost of devices alone
- Cultural and linguistic differences as well as educational backgrounds
- Lack of interest from healthcare providers
- Government regulation of technology
Rationale: The abstract states benefits "are constrained by cultural and linguistic differences as well as educational backgrounds."
7. Before this review, what did the authors say had received little attention in the literature?
- Immigrant older adults using technology to overcome social isolation
- Whether social isolation affects health at all
- The cost of smartphones for older adults
- Technology use among adolescents
Rationale: The abstract states that while social isolation is a health-promotion focus in nursing, "little attention has been paid to immigrant older adults using technology to overcome social isolation."
8. What do the authors recommend to promote technology adaptation among immigrant older adults?
- Relying solely on family members to teach technology use
- Collaborative partnership with healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers
- Restricting technology use until formal digital literacy programs are mandatory nationwide
- Focusing exclusively on smartphone hardware upgrades
Rationale: The abstract states technology adaptation "should be promoted in this population through a collaborative partnership with healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers and policymakers."
9. In which journal was this narrative review published?
- Journal of Advanced Nursing
- Canadian Journal of Nursing Research
- International Journal of Nursing Studies
- Ageing & Society
Rationale: The metadata for this article identifies its journal as the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research.
10. What do the authors say should continue regarding technology use and psychosocial support?
- Funding for this research area should be discontinued
- There should be further exploration of the interrelationships between technology use and psychosocial support
- Research should shift entirely away from immigrant populations
- No further research is needed since the topic is fully resolved
Rationale: The abstract concludes there "should be further exploration of the interrelationships between technology use and psychosocial support and continuous striving for the most suitable approach for social isolation prevention among immigrant older adults."
Study cards
Flashcards
What is the purpose of this narrative review?
To comprehend the role of technology use in the context of social isolation, including the predisposing factors, encountered by immigrant older adults to support their psychosocial wellbeing.
How many articles were included in this narrative review?
26 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the review.
What date range of published literature did the review cover?
Peer-reviewed articles published in professional databases from 2013 to 2024.
What unexpected pattern did the authors identify among the included studies?
An unexpected preference for older Asian immigrants living in a North American context among the eligible papers.
What was the review's main finding regarding mental health?
Technology use has improved the mental health of socially-isolated immigrant older adults.
What three factors constrained the benefits of technology use for this population?
Cultural differences, linguistic differences, and educational backgrounds.
Beyond simple access, what did the review emphasize is needed for technology to benefit this population?
Adaptation to the person's language, culture, and educational background (culturally and linguistically responsive design) rather than a one-size-fits-all rollout.
What do the authors recommend to promote technology adaptation in this population?
A collaborative partnership with healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers.
In which journal was this study published, and in what year?
The Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, published in 2025.
Who are the authors of this narrative review?
Kateryna Metersky, Peiwen Lin, Sepali Guruge, Zhixi C. Zhuang, Cristina Catallo, and Kaveenaa Chandrasekaran.
What type of review methodology was used?
A narrative review, which synthesizes themes across diverse studies rather than pooling quantitative results.
Why is the concentration of studies on Asian immigrants in North America a limitation?
It limits the generalizability of findings to immigrant older adults from other ethnocultural backgrounds and regions.
What population is the central focus of this review?
Socially isolated immigrant older adults.
What should continue according to the authors' conclusion?
Further exploration of the interrelationships between technology use and psychosocial support, and continued efforts to find the most suitable approach for social isolation prevention in this population.
Why does a narrative review not support pooled statistical conclusions the way a meta-analysis would?
Because it synthesizes themes and patterns across heterogeneous studies rather than statistically combining outcome data from all included studies.
What is one clinical takeaway for nurses recommending technology to immigrant older adult patients?
Assess language preference, cultural fit, and prior education level before recommending a specific technology tool, since these factors shape whether the person benefits.
What health promotion topic does the abstract say technology use falls under in nursing?
Social isolation has become a hotspot topic for health promotion in nursing among various populations.
What gap in attention did the authors identify before conducting this review?
Little attention had been paid to immigrant older adults using technology specifically to overcome social isolation.
What does 'psychosocial wellbeing' refer to in the context of this review?
The combined psychological and social dimensions of a person's health, including mental health and social connectedness, which the review examines in relation to technology use.
What is one appropriate way to apply this review's findings in a Canadian community health nursing context?
Use the findings to inform culturally and linguistically responsive technology introduction for immigrant older adult patients, while recognizing the evidence base is not yet broadly representative of all immigrant groups.
Search-ready answers
Frequently asked questions
What is this narrative review about?
It examines the role of technology use in addressing social isolation among immigrant older adults, including the factors that shape whether technology actually helps their psychosocial wellbeing.
How many studies were reviewed, and over what time period?
The review included 26 peer-reviewed articles published between 2013 and 2024.
Does technology use actually help with social isolation in older immigrants?
The review found that technology use has improved the mental health of socially isolated immigrant older adults, though the extent of benefit depended on cultural, linguistic, and educational factors.
What factors limit the benefits of technology for immigrant older adults?
Cultural and linguistic differences, along with educational background, were identified as factors constraining how much benefit immigrant older adults get from technology use.
What population was most represented in the studies this review analyzed?
Older Asian immigrants living in a North American context were unexpectedly overrepresented among the eligible studies, which the authors flagged as a gap in the broader evidence base.
What made technology more likely to help in the reviewed literature?
Technology that was adapted to users' language, culture, and prior education, rather than provided as a one-size-fits-all tool, was described as more acceptable and beneficial for this population.
What do the authors recommend for improving technology use among this population?
They recommend collaborative partnership among healthcare practitioners, educators, researchers, and policymakers to promote appropriate technology adaptation.
Is this a systematic review or a narrative review?
It is a narrative review, meaning it synthesizes themes across diverse studies rather than statistically pooling outcomes as a systematic review or meta-analysis would.
Who wrote this article and where was it published?
It was written by Kateryna Metersky, Peiwen Lin, Sepali Guruge, Zhixi C. Zhuang, Cristina Catallo, and Kaveenaa Chandrasekaran, and published in the Canadian Journal of Nursing Research in 2025.
What should nurses take away from this review?
Technology can support the psychosocial wellbeing of socially isolated immigrant older adults, but its benefit depends on adapting it to the person's language, culture, and educational background rather than assuming a one-size-fits-all approach.