Towards a More Social Orientation in Gerontechnology: Case Study of the “Reminiscence Stick”

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to investigate, through a case study, how social orientation can be realized in gerontechnology's objectives. The focus is on user-driven development process of an “mStick,” which is a tool for storing various biographical material: photographs, texts, audio and video clips, and using it in elderly care services. Qualitative data were collected in 11 pilot cases. The content analysis was used to investigate how the “Gerontechnology's Five Ways”: prevention, enhancement, compensation, care, and research, were applicable especially from the perspective of social implications. The mStick acts as a prevention by offering meaningful contents to life, as enhancement by offering a possibility to utilize elderly person's resources. It compensates weakening abilities by preventing the world from becoming narrower. In care, it helps to see patients as whole human beings with unique biography. In addition, mStick offers potential for, for example, applications in memory research. The implication of this study is to pay attention to gerontechnology's role in supporting the social nature of the human being. This may contribute to renewing caring culture towards a more social and biographical orientation. Limitations of this study include focusing on the early development and implementation process with no long-term use data.

KEYWORDS:

• elderly care
• gerontechnology
• impact of technology
• reminiscence
• social relationships

Acknowledgments

This article is a revised and expanded version of the conference paper, “Developing the ‘mStick’ concept: Experiences and impacts,” presented in ISG*ISARC World Conference, Eindhoven, Netherlands, June 26–29, 2012. The authors wish to thank European Regional Development Fund and the Regional Council of Päijät-Häme for the opportunity of presenting their research in this journal.