Unleashing Collaboration, Taming Technology - Exploring the collaborative dynamics of welfare technology in eldercare practice
Author(s): Doris Lydahl
Thursday 15 | 9:20-9:40
Room: TP51
Session: Care and technologies in a digitalised society
This presentation introduces a larger project concerning the implementation of welfare technology in elder care, exploring the values embedded in its use. In the Nordic countries, ‘welfare technology’ is a concept used increasingly by policymakers when discussing the promise of digitalisation in care for older people. Drawing from science and technology (STS) theories of care and values (Lindén & Lydahl, 2021), the project emphasises the importance of understanding how technology shapes and is reshaped by caregiving practices and highlights the implications of these practices. The project builds on qualitative data consisting of interviews with and observations of employees in elder care in three municipalities in Sweden where welfare technology is being implemented and used.
In this presentation, I aim to explore the dynamic interplay between welfare technology and the collaborative efforts of eldercare employees. Building upon the insights of Pols and Willems (2011), who assert that the integration of technology involves a dual process of ‘unleashing’ and ‘taming’, I contend that welfare technologies not only introduce novel collective practices but also undergo a simultaneous process where collective procedures are taking place to adapt the technologies. I will demonstrate, echoing the findings of Sànchez-Criado et al. (2014), that technologies rarely offer plug-and-play solutions; instead, they require continual tinkering and adaptation to function. Additionally, I will emphasize the collaborative nature of this tinkering process.