Apple Inc. has finally come up with a solution to stem bleeding iPad sales: sell millions of them to the elderly.

It plans to get up to five million iPads in the hands of Japanese senior citizens by 2020 through a partnership with IBM Corp. IBM, -1.72% and Japan Post, the country’s largest employer. Apple AAPL, -3.17% CEO Tim Cook, at an event announcing the program on Thursday, said it would be expanded to “many other countries” as government’s grapple with rapidly-aging populations and rising health care costs.

The iPads will come equipped with a suite of apps developed by IBM catered specifically to the elderly, such as communication tools and health and medical apps.

“It is a prime demographic to be targeting,” said Roger Kay, a tech consultant and founder of Endpoint Technologies Co., particularly given the need for technological innovation in health among an oft ignored demographic in Silicon Valley.

The announcement comes a few days after Apple reported a 29% year-over-year decline in iPad sales to 12.6 million last quarter, capping off an eight-quarter streak of declines from 19.5 million in the second quarter of 2013, despite otherwise strong quarterly earnings.

While Apple has stumbled onto some cannibalization with its larger-screen iPhone 6 Plus and lighter MacBook, broader industry data also looks bleak, with shipments falling 5.9% year-over-year to 47.1 million in the first quarter, according to IDC.

Apple late last year started to carve out a new home for the iPad through a partnership with IBM aimed at getting iPads and enterprise apps into American corporations. They’ve built 22 apps so far for 11 industries, with the goal of getting above 100 apps by the end of the year.

The two are doubling down on their health-tech investments by targeting senior citizens.

“We completely underestimate the willingness and ability of elderly people to adopt meaningful technology,” said Rick Valencia, senior vice president of Qualcomm Life, in an email this week to MarketWatch. Qualcomm Life has long been making strides in connected health, particularly among older generations suffering from chronic disease.

Elderly people are getting more comfortable with the idea of using technology. An April 2014 Pew Research study found that 60% of seniors now go online—three-quarters of that reported signing on every day. About half said they had high-speed broadband Internet at home.

While Apple comes off as a hip company catered toward the young tech-savvy crowd, Gary Kaye, chief content officer at Tech50+, a tech-news website that caters toward a relatively tech-savvy 50-plus market, said Apple has been quietly targeting seniors for years with accessibility features.

On Thursday, Cook called the iPad “incredibly intuitive” and pointed to Edythe Kirchmaier, a 107-year-old woman known as the oldest registered Facebook FB, -0.89% and iPad user. “We’d like more people like Edythe, who are living not just long, but well,” Cook said.

The tablet is the best option among Apple’s product for that type of rollout because it is “big enough to read, small enough to carry, and smart enough to connect to the Internet,” Kaye said.

Ross Rubin, an analyst at Reticle Research, said that while this alone might not be enough to reverse the negative growth of iPad sales, it’s a step in the right direction as the elderly increases as a percentage of global population. As health-tech advances, it provides a new level of mobility to elderly users, giving them a more direct line to emergency and health-care professionals.

Edyth Kirchmaier, 107, the oldest registered Facebook and iPad user Getty Images

“Putting connected Apple devices in the hands of the elderly--many of whom want to communicate with their children and grandkids--may help spur demand for Apple devices and services,” said Rubin. “It exposes a group of users to digital technology that is too often neglected.”

Also see: Silicon Valley looks to disrupt elder care

Morningstar analyst Brian Colello said he views the IBM-Apple partnership as positive. Corporate deals like the one signed with Japan Post are not only a way into a new demographic, but are “stickier” than selling directly to consumers--meaning customers are less likely to jump to a rival like Android GOOGL, -2.41% .

Of course, the decline in iPad sales should be “taken in context,” said Colello. While the iPhone 6 Plus has led to iPad cannibalization, the iPhone is a far more profitable product for Apple. The company sold a record 74.5 million iPhones in its first quarter and another 61.2 million last quarter.

Shares of Apple fell for three straight days after the company’s blowout earnings report on Monday, but closed up 3% to $128.95 on Friday. They are up more than 50% over the last 12 months, making Apple the second-best performing stock on the Dow 30 behind Walt Disney Co. DIS, -1.22%

There are challenges with this demographic, particularly given the easy access to malicious parties on the Internet that may try to hack or scam the less tech-affluent group. It also requires a higher level of training. But if it can be done in such a way that seniors are as protected as possible, it could “go a long way” in reversing negative iPad growth, said Rob Enderle, tech analyst with Enderle Group.

“Give them something that works and provides them a benefit and they’re more committed to it than young techie people who have many more distractions in life,” said Qualcomm’s Valencia.