IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v255y2020ics0277953620302033.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Care organising technologies and the post-phenomenology of care: An ethnographic case study

Author

Listed:
  • Shaw, Sara E.
  • Hughes, Gemma
  • Hinder, Sue
  • Carolan, Stephany
  • Greenhalgh, Trisha

Abstract

Care organising technologies are software applications that are intended primarily for informal carers, to help organise, document and coordinate caring work. These may be purchased privately or provided as part of state support. Take-up to date remains low. Based on empirical case studies of three such technologies and drawing on post-phenomenology and political science, we examined people's experience of caring when caring technologies find a way into their lives. Our findings show how care organising technologies have evolved in a political context that assumes informal support will supplement and sometimes substitute for state support. Technologies were largely designed to foreground the technical and organisational aspects of care such as planning meals, coordinating medication, and allocating and monitoring tasks among carers. For carers, the result was often a flattening of the landscape of care such that the socio-emotional work of caring was rendered invisible and relations between cared-for and caregiver were configured in narrow transactional terms. For a small number of carers, the focus on tasks was out of tune with their (often emotionally charged) experiences of care and led to active rejection of the technology. However, we also found examples of caregivers and the individuals they cared for using technologies adaptively to facilitate and embed existing care relationships. In these examples, the material/technical, socio-emotional and bodily aspects of caring were interwoven with the situated context of close, unique and evolving relationships. We conclude that the design and development of caring technologies would benefit by being informed by a broader orientation of caring as a relational practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaw, Sara E. & Hughes, Gemma & Hinder, Sue & Carolan, Stephany & Greenhalgh, Trisha, 2020. "Care organising technologies and the post-phenomenology of care: An ethnographic case study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:255:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620302033
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112984
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620302033
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112984?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sue Yeandle & Gary Fry, 2010. "The Potential of ICT in supporting Domiciliary Care in England," JRC Research Reports JRC56438, Joint Research Centre.
    2. Greenhalgh, Trisha & Stones, Rob, 2010. "Theorising big IT programmes in healthcare: Strong structuration theory meets actor-network theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1285-1294, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lynch, Jennifer & Hughes, Gemma & Papoutsi, Chrysanthi & Wherton, Joseph & A'Court, Christine, 2022. "“It's no good but at least I've always got it round my neck”: A postphenomenological analysis of reassurance in assistive technology use by older people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 292(C).
    2. Borsch, Anne Sofie & Jensen, Anja M.B. & Vange, Sif Sofie & Jervelund, Signe Smith, 2024. "The video window: How video consultation technology reveals and redefines the art of medicine in Danish specialist practice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Ping-Chuan & Hung, Shiu-Wan, 2016. "An actor-network perspective on evaluating the R&D linking efficiency of innovation ecosystems," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 303-312.
    2. Lee, Kenneth & Manochin, Melina, 2021. "Sell-side equity analysts and equity sales: a study of interaction," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108953, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Greenhalgh, Trisha & Wherton, Joe & Sugarhood, Paul & Hinder, Sue & Procter, Rob & Stones, Rob, 2013. "What matters to older people with assisted living needs? A phenomenological analysis of the use and non-use of telehealth and telecare," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 86-94.
    4. Ana Rivoir & Katherine Reilly, 2023. "Elder People and Personal Data: New Challenges in Health Platformization," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 101-111.
    5. Kennedy, Aileen & O'gorman, Colm & Lee, Kenneth, 2021. "Have your cake and eat it? Combining structure and agency in management research," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112720, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Browne, Jennifer & de Leeuw, Evelyne & Gleeson, Deborah & Adams, Karen & Atkinson, Petah & Hayes, Rick, 2017. "A network approach to policy framing: A case study of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 10-18.
    7. Assing Hvidt, Elisabeth & Grønning, Anette & Nisbeth Brøgger, Matilde & Møller, Jane Ege & Fage-Butler, Antoinette, 2021. "Multilevel structures and human agency in relation to email consultations: A strong structuration theory analysis of the Danish general practice setting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 282(C).
    8. Andreassen, Hege K. & Kjekshus, Lars Erik & Tjora, Aksel, 2015. "Survival of the project: A case study of ICT innovation in health care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 62-69.
    9. Li, Yiping & Zhang, Heqing & Zhang, Dian & Abrahams, Richard, 2019. "Mediating urban transition through rural tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 152-164.
    10. Janssen, M. & Stoopendaal, A.M.V. & Putters, K., 2015. "Situated novelty: Introducing a process perspective on the study of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10), pages 1974-1984.
    11. Petrakaki, Dimitra & Barber, Nick & Waring, Justin, 2012. "The possibilities of technology in shaping healthcare professionals: (Re/De-)Professionalisation of pharmacists in England," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(2), pages 429-437.
    12. May, Carl, 2013. "Agency and implementation: Understanding the embedding of healthcare innovations in practice," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 26-33.
    13. Dakin, Francesca H. & Rybczynska-Bunt, Sarah & Rosen, Rebecca & Clarke, Aileen & Greenhalgh, Trisha, 2024. "Access and triage in contemporary general practice: A novel theory of digital candidacy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 349(C).
    14. Small, Adrian & Wainwright, David, 2018. "Privacy and security of electronic patient records – Tailoring multimethodology to explore the socio-political problems associated with Role Based Access Control systems," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 265(1), pages 344-360.
    15. Stoopendaal, Annemiek & Bal, Roland, 2013. "Conferences, tablecloths and cupboards: How to understand the situatedness of quality improvements in long-term care," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 78-85.
    16. Maran, Laura & Bracci, Enrico & Inglis, Robert, 2018. "Performance management systems' stability: Unfolding the human factor – A case from the Italian public sector," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 324-339.
    17. Daff, Lyn & Parker, Lee D., 2021. "A conceptual model of accountants' communication inside not-for-profit organisations," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(3).
    18. Trkman, Marina & Trkman, Peter, 2014. "Actors’ misaligned interests to explain the low impact of an information system – A case study," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 296-307.
    19. Daskalopoulou, Athanasia & Palmer, Mark, 2021. "Persistent institutional breaches: Technology use in healthcare work," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    20. Jean Claude Mutiganda, 2016. "How do politicians shape and use budgets to govern public sector organizations? A position-practice approach," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(7), pages 491-498, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:255:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620302033. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.