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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Meeting abstract › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Meeting abstract › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - The ATHENE project
T2 - the importance of bricolage in personalising assisted living technologies
AU - Procter, Rob
AU - Greenhalgh, Trish
AU - Wherton, Joe
AU - Sugarhood, Paul
AU - Rouncefield, Mark
AU - Dewsbury, Guy
PY - 2013/11/20
Y1 - 2013/11/20
N2 - Introduction: An aging population is fueling interest in assisted living technologies (ALTs) to support independence at home. Numerous ALTs have been developed and deployed, but uptake and use has fallen short of levels predicted by policymakers. A key reason is a lack of understanding of users’ needs.In this paper we report findings from the ATHENE (Assistive Technologies for Healthy Living in Elders: Needs Assessment by Ethnography) project, which is funded by the Technology Strategy Board under its Assisted Living Innovation Platform programme. The project aims to produce a richer understanding of the lived experiences and needs of older people and explore how ALTstakeholders – suppliers, health and social care providers – can work with users and carers to ‘coproduce’ ALTs.We focus, in particular, on the role of ‘bricolage’ (pragmatic customisation, combining new with legacy devices) by informal carers, such as family members, in enabling ALTs to be personalised to individual needs. Bricolage allows users and family members to take the initiative in ‘coproducing’ ALTs. that making assisted living work relies on collaboration, involving not only formal carers, but also informal ones. We argue that a new research agenda is needed, focusing onsolving challenges of involving users and their informal carers in the straightforward and dependable co-production of ALTs.
AB - Introduction: An aging population is fueling interest in assisted living technologies (ALTs) to support independence at home. Numerous ALTs have been developed and deployed, but uptake and use has fallen short of levels predicted by policymakers. A key reason is a lack of understanding of users’ needs.In this paper we report findings from the ATHENE (Assistive Technologies for Healthy Living in Elders: Needs Assessment by Ethnography) project, which is funded by the Technology Strategy Board under its Assisted Living Innovation Platform programme. The project aims to produce a richer understanding of the lived experiences and needs of older people and explore how ALTstakeholders – suppliers, health and social care providers – can work with users and carers to ‘coproduce’ ALTs.We focus, in particular, on the role of ‘bricolage’ (pragmatic customisation, combining new with legacy devices) by informal carers, such as family members, in enabling ALTs to be personalised to individual needs. Bricolage allows users and family members to take the initiative in ‘coproducing’ ALTs. that making assisted living work relies on collaboration, involving not only formal carers, but also informal ones. We argue that a new research agenda is needed, focusing onsolving challenges of involving users and their informal carers in the straightforward and dependable co-production of ALTs.
KW - bricolage
KW - personalisation
KW - co-production
KW - ethnography
KW - dependability
M3 - Meeting abstract
VL - 13
JO - International Journal of Integrated Care
JF - International Journal of Integrated Care
ER -