Accepted for/Published in: Journal of Medical Internet Research
Date Submitted: Jul 13, 2019
Date Accepted: Mar 29, 2020
Ongoing Digital Transformation: A Cross-sectional Study on the Views of Swedish Elder Care Personnel
ABSTRACT
Background:
Swedish municipalities are facing demographic challenges due to the growing number of older people and the resulting increased need for health care services. Welfare technologies are being launched as possible solutions for meeting some of these challenges
Objective:
The aim of this study is to explore the perception, experimentation, evaluation and procurement of welfare technology practices among care professionals working in municipal elder care in relation to their gender, age, and profession
Methods:
Data for this explorative cross-sectional study were collected from 393 responses to a web-based survey on municipal elder care in Sweden. Chi square tests were performed to determine the associations.
Results:
The results show gender, age, and professional differences in municipal elder care workers. Differences were particularly evident in attitudes toward technology, the use of technology in general and in the workplace, and involvement and participation in decision-making regarding the procurement of new welfare technologies. The results shows that men (69%) have a more positive attitude toward and curiosity regarding new technologies than women (47%) (p-value =.03). Regarding age, the younger respondents (18-24 years) perceived the digital transformation in the workplace “too slow” (100%), while the majority of older respondents (65-74 years) perceived it as happening at the “right pace” (57%). The results revealed that the elder care personnel felt encouraged by managament to explore and experiment with new WT, but never did with either management or patients. The study also explored that even though the majority of the respondents were women, more men (57%) were involved in the procurement process for WT devices and solutions than women (29%) (p-value =.00).
Conclusions:
Personnel working within municipal elder care were generally very positive toward new technologies. However, both gender and age differences may influence, for example, personnel’s resistance to welfare technology and patients’ participation in welfare technology usage and deployment. Different levels of participation in the decision-making process regarding new technology deployment may negatively affect the overall digital transformation within municipal elder care.
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