Jin Kristian Hurum has completed his Master’s Thesis in STS: Science and Technology Studies with the title “Healthcare collaboration with video communication: a user study on wellbeing technology” at NTNU, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture for the academic spring semester 2023.
Focus for thesis
This thesis explores how the work of healthcare professionals change through the use of a head mounted camera called “Jodapro”. The head mounted camera is used by some Norwegian municipalities’ primary healthcare services, to treat patients at home while communicating with experts from the policlinic. The main research question in this thesis is: How does the work of healthcare professionals change through the use of wellbeing technology like Jodapro?
The study consists of seven semi-structured interviews with “technicians” developing Jodapro, and primary- and specialist healthcare services. All seven interviews were conducted digitally with Microsoft Teams, due to the workers busy work schedule and because they were geographically scattered across Norway. The data gathered from the interviews was coded based on Grounded Theory. Subsequently, the organized data was analyzed with domestication theory and Haraway´s cyborg.
My findings show that the use and collaboration through Jodapro has resulted in the creation of a new “hybrid nurse”. Through their use, both service levels increased their own competency. However, the implementation of Jodapro also increased the workload for the home care services, as they are now responsible for the physical, but also for the technology used in the treatment procedure. They must prepare both the patient and the technology before contacting the experts. Treating patients in their own home saves time and work for patients and specialists but entails more work for the homecare service. This can be problematic because the homecare services are already understaffed and under immense time pressure. Furthermore, the study illustrate the consequence of the Jodaprocyborg constituting a cohesive entity where vulnerabilities for one of the actors becomes weaknesses for the entire cyborg.
Relation to future work
We already see an increase in automation and digitalization in the health and care sector. This tendency could affect patients and healthcare workers, for better or for worse. We must ask ourselves how and when we want care and treatment to be provided with technology, and at the same time acknowledge the interests of involved actors.
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You can read the full master thesis here:
AUTOWORK 