title: What Was (Also) at Stake When a Robot Bathtub Was Implemented in a Danish Elder Center: A Constructivist Secondary Qualitative Analysis.
abstract: Assistive technologies are often considered to be passive tools implemented in targeted processes. Our previous study of the implementation of the robot bathtub in a Danish elder center suggested that purposeful rationality was not the only issue at stake. To further explore this, we conducted a constructivist secondary qualitative analysis. Data included interviews, participant observations, working documents, and media coverage. The analysis was carried out in two phases and revealed that the bathing of the older people was constructed as a problem that could be offensive to the users' integrity, damaging to their well-being, and physically strenuous for the staff. The older users and the nursing staff were constructed as problem carriers. We conclude that technological solutions are not merely neutral and beneficial solutions to existing problems, but are rather part of strategic games contributing to the construction of the very problems they seek to solve.
authors.affiliation: Aarhus University, Denmark kbe@ph.au.dk.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beedholm
authors.affiliation: Aarhus University, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Frederiksen
authors.affiliation: Aarhus University, Denmark Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lomborg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001494:Baths; D003142:Communication; D006801:Humans; D009735:Nursing Homes; D009740:Nursing Staff; D012371:Robotics; D012656:Self-Help Devices
keywords: Denmark; Foucault; assisted personal body care; assistive technology; constructivism; elder care; health technology assessment; implementation; nursing; robot bathtub; secondary qualitative analysis