Care Networking: A Study of Technical Mediations in a Home Telecare Service

Gonzalo Correa and Miquel Domènech
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Gonzalo Correa: Departament de Psicologia Social, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 8014, Spain
Miquel Domènech: Departament de Psicologia Social, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona 8014, Spain

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: This article examines the processes of technical mediation within familial care networks based on a study of home telecare targeted at older people. Supported by contributions from the actor—network theory as part of the social psychology of science and technology, these processes of technical mediation are analyzed using a qualitative approach. The data were gathered through six focus groups and four in-depth interviews; the participants in the study included users, relatives and formal carers. Thematic analysis techniques encompassing the information were used, revealing the effects on the patterns of caring relationships. The results show the interplay between presence-absence made possible by the devices; the two-way direction of care between the older people and the artifacts; and the process of sustaining care using the technology. We conclude that care should be seen as a socio-technical network where technology plays an active role in sustaining family relationships.

Keywords: older people; technical mediation; interdependence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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