Alderdom i det teknologiske Utopia? Velferdsteknologi i norske kommuner

Becoming In/dependent: An Assemblage Analysis of Technical Design from Below

“…Awareness of the effects of welfare state politics, and how various processes of decentralised responsibilities combined with increased managerial control are met and handled is not new in a Scandinavian context (Vike et al, 2002). In studies of female-dominated professions like nursing, much attention has been given to how the evolution of modern healthcare systems has caused an increase in informal and invisible work, and a lack of control of the amount and complexity of organisational responsibilities (Allen, 2015;Englund & Solbrekke, 2011;Griffith & Smith, 2018;Haukelien, 2020;Olsvold, 2016;Thagaard, 2016;Thomassen, 2016). Contributing to this line of research, this chapter explores and discusses how nurses relate to digital tools in the temporal structuring of tasks, balancing their mandate as a caregiving profession and their role as the organisational 'glue' in the modern welfare system.…”

Technology as ‘time saver’ and the ‘saviour’ of older adult care:

“…Implementing various types of technologies enabling 'care at a distance' through remote monitoring and control of older adults living at home has emerged as one of the major solutions to the 'problem of aging' in Norway (Haukelien, 2020;Tøndel & Seibt, 2019) and in other comparable welfare states like the United Kingdom (Lynch, 2015;Milligan et al, 2011) and the Netherlands (Neven, 2015;Oudshoorn, 2011).…”

“…Time spent on reorganising home care services, adjusting the devices and alarm-interruptions, for instance, take the form of invisible work that is not included in the accounts when technology related time-savings and efficiencies are argued for (Haukelien, 2020;Lynch et al, 2019;Tøndel, 2018). Similarly, the work that goes into evaluations of telecare-user's needs, installations, adjustment of devices and alarm responding, are taken as simple, streamlined tasks that follow a standardized protocol, and therefore not adapted to individual needs and capacities (Mort et al, 2013).…”

“…These findings are echoed in recent research from Norway, both regarding how technology works on 'the shop floor' and how it is implemented on a larger scale. Two different observation studies of home care workers in Norway, for instance, have demonstrated how answering an alarm call from one user can interrupt the care relation and take time from other patients (Haukelien, 2020;Tøndel, 2018). Moser and Thygesen (2014) problematize how, despite the increased project activity in municipalities as a result of the governmental measures mentioned above, only a few telecare projects survive the 'pilot-period' and become an integral part of care services.…”

Nurses’ Experience of Caring amidst Developments in Welfare Technology in Elderly Care

“…However, the implementation of welfare technology is not proceeding as smoothly as expected. Female-dominated work and professional communities, such as the nursing field, are often described as being stuck in habits and traditions and welfare technology is often presented as a modern corrective for these groups (Haukelien, 2020). Nurses are also constructed as an obstacle to the wider use of welfare technology in primary care (Corneliussen & Dyb, 2021).…”