The Ongoing and Collective Character of Digital Care for Older People: Moving Beyond Techno-Determinism in Government Policy

Abstract

In this article, we contrast policy understandings of digital care with older people’s day-to-day digital care. In doing so, we discuss problems relating to deterministic approaches in government policy. Our policy analysis shows that digital care is articulated as an individual practice, and digital technologies as static actors. This bears clear marks of techno-deterministic reasoning. Our ethnographic study demonstrates the ongoing and collective character of older people’s digital care. When policy is not aligned with everyday practice, there is a risk of excluding groups of users. We argue that a socio-technical approach in government policy could contribute to achieving important societal goals.