Bridging the User Barriers of Home Telecare

Abstract

Scarce healthcare resources and a growing older population are pushing forward a need to transform elderly care arrangements into becoming more technology-enabled in the private homes. This paper present findings from an action research study where the participants tested telecare as a service for remote delivery of selected homecare services. The telecare solution was applied either by the participants’ own television or using a modern tablet. However, several user barriers were experienced when the participants tested telecare in their everyday life. Thus, the telecare solution was rejected after end of pilot study. We found that the technical telecare solution was not enough supportive, especially during the days when the participants for various reasons not were able to perform the necessary preparation, the “invisible work” or behind the scene work ahead of the consultation. In previous research literature, the notion of the invisible work has mostly been used as theoretical lenses understanding formal care work. The move of assistive technologies into the home of the elderly people create a need to re-shape partakers in the elderly care work – whereas elderly care receivers also are active involved in the care arrangements. Moreover, the technology platform used for supporting elderly people should be design in a way that both support them in the visible work (the actual task the technology is set to support) and the invisible work (all the extra work to make it work) if we aim to better succeed in transforming pilot studies into sustainable care services.