JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digitalisation is seen as a way to reduce the negative environmental impacts of healthcare production, but research is still limited.

Objective:

Our main focus is on the assessment of sustainability aspects of digital services in home care and health care. This study demonstrates the approach to identify the climate impacts and social impacts – both positive and negative – on a selection of digital home care and healthcare services, such as medicine robot services for older home care clients, through two Finnish case studies.

Methods:

Impacts are identified in interviews and statistical data collected from public service providers and technology suppliers using both quantitative and qualitative assessments.

Results:

While a well-planned and well-implemented digital service is likely to be a climate-friendly option, every digitalisation action carries at least some negative impacts. The design, architecture and practical implementation of these services greatly affect their climate and social impacts.

Conclusions:

This study employs a novel combination of impact assessment methods, highlighting the importance of qualitative understanding alongside quantitative approaches for interpreting results, especially when numerical data are limited. Advocating for multi-method impact assessments is crucial to properly capturing the service context and promoting holistic sustainability thinking.