Can ICT improve the quality of life of elderly adults living in residential home care units (RHCU)? From actual impacts to hidden artifacts.
Résumé
In a context of progressive loss of intellectual and interactional capacities for the elderly, the goal of this paper is to examine to what extent a new technological environment can improve their quality of life. In this study we examine the very elderly (mean age 87) who have experienced a loss in functional capacities and are dependent on managed care such as residential home care units (RHCU). Using qualitative methods amongst a group of 17 residents (semi-structured interviews and longitudinal observations), we examine whether new social practices form and whether subjects feel more socially recognized. Our study shows that information and communication technologies (ICT) may, to some extent, play an instrumental role in interconnectedness and social stimulation, and can also be seen as a "boundary object" that communicates between the residents' world (who are rather isolated) and their families' world (including grandchildren).