Smarthome technology and dementia care

1. Smarthome technology and dementia care Hilde Thygesen ph-d student, TIK, UiO

2. Smarthome technology and dementia care: • Overview of current debates/issues 2. Presentation of alternative way of dealing with these issues 3. Conclusions and discussion

3. A concrete example of smarthome technology in dementia care: • Greenfield care flat - 20 residents, all suffering from dementia - 24 hour staff - own home, not an institution - alarms and monitoring devices

4. Current debates/issues: Technology in dementia care Dominated by polarized/dichotomised and deterministic understanding of technology

5. Technology in dementia care: • “new” vs “old” technologies b) “neutral tool” vs “substitute of human care”

9. Technology in dementia care: • “technology” vs “human care”

11. Technology in dementia care: d) deterministic understanding

12. Issues: • How to control it’s use • How to protect human dignity • The application of principles/ methods to ensure ”right” use

13. STS approach to technology in dementia care: • Empirical studies of practices • Technology = not ”given” • No a priori distinctions • Interest in how technologies – and smarthome technologies in particular, are part of and form dementia care practices

14. Technology as an inseparate part of care • All care involves technologies • Technologies are part of what constitutes care: not something that is ”added” • Issue of ”whether or not to use technology in care” is therefore irrelevant • But instead – a question of what relations of humans and technologies that contribute to good care? An empirical question.

15. Different constellations of humans and technologies enact different forms of care • Technology is not ”one thing” in itself • Different relations of humans and technologies enact different forms of care • These relations can be positive or negative – not given beforehand

16. Conclusions/reflections • STS makes it possible to get insight into how technologies are part of care practices, and create different forms of care • Shows the importance of knowledge of practices

17. Thank you for your attention!hildthyg@tik.uio.no