Solution, Tool or Risk? – the Role of Technology in Care of Older Adults : a Critical Discourse Analysis of Stakeholder Responses to Finland’s Legislative Proposal

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to examine Finnish stakeholder perspectives on the role of technology in care of older adults, and the understandings of care their perspectives are based on. Technological solutions have been highlighted as the solution to the so-called care crisis caused by the ageing population and care staff shortage. As a result of the care crisis, welfare states are facing a situation where the needs of care are increasing, while the supply of care services is declining. Care services in Finland are concurrently affected by state-led austerity measures, caused by the challenging economic situation of the state.

While technological solutions have been widely studied and are argued to provide better quality care in a time of limited resources, contesting criticism of technological solutions being prioritized over other aspects of care has risen, as well as concerns over the ethical use of technology in care. This thesis aims to critically assess the values and ideologies guiding stakeholder perspectives on the use of technology in care, and how technology use is justified and contested by stakeholders.

Data used for the analysis consisted of stakeholder statements provided as a response to the Finnish government’s legislative proposal, which aimed to set a framework for the use of technology in social services. The proposal received varying responses from stakeholders during the stakeholder consultation period. This thesis uses an analytical method inspired by Norman Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine how different stakeholders construct the role of technology in care of older adults, and what kind of understandings of care their perspectives reflect. Theoretical frameworks of technological solutionism and ethics of care are used as a lens to analyze stakeholder perspectives.

The analysis found three separate discourses addressing the role of technology in care of older adults: tech-fix for efficiency discourse, which represented high technological solutionism and views of care prioritizing cost-containment and efficiency, technology as a tool discourse, which constructed care as a human-centered concept that technology can support, and technology skepticism discourse, which represented contesting perspectives towards technological solutionism and fostered a relational understanding of care.