Continuous positive airway pressure machines and the work of coordinating technologies at home.
OBJECTIVE
Research on the use of health technology at home has consistently reported that it is underpinned by users' evaluations of the technology in relation to their illness trajectory, their social network, and the place where it is used. Recent studies have also revealed that the efficacy of health technologies depends upon users' work that is largely invisible to professionals, managers and designers. This paper draws on the most widely used therapy for the management of sleep apnoea, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), to show how users maintain workable relationships between it and other technological elements of the domestic environment.


METHODS
Qualitative analysis was performed of an archive of messages sent to a web-based support group for sleep disorders between 1994 and 2007.


RESULTS
Users describe two related techniques: first, drawing on their embodied knowledge of using domestic technologies to imagine potential, alternative environments for CPAP; and second, using their body as an instrument to assess the ;fit' of each of the attempted arrangements. The interaction between these two techniques entails frequent shifts in users' understandings of their illness and those involved in its management.


CONCLUSIONS
Strategies of implementation of health technologies at home should acknowledge and incorporate the embodied knowledge processes of users.
Moreira
Tiago
T
School of Applied Social Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK. tiago.moreira@durham.ac.uk
D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure / Q000295:instrumentation*; D004867:Equipment Design; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012648:Self Care; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000628:therapy*; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012944:Social Support