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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Ethics of using assistive technology in the care for community-dwelling elderly people
— an overview of the literature | | Author(s) | Sandra A Zwijsen, Alistair R Niemeijer, Cees M P M Hertogh |
| Journal title | Aging & Mental Health, vol 15, no 4, May 2011 |
| Pages | pp 419-427 |
| Source | http://www.tandfonline.com |
| Keywords | Assistive technology ; Dementia ; Social ethics ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | This article provides an overview of international literature on the most important ethical considerations in the field of assistive technology (AT) in the care of community-dwelling older people including individuals with dementia. A systematic literature review was performed and 46 papers met the inclusion criteria. Three main themes were found. The first theme, personal living environment, involves the subthemes privacy, autonomy and obtrusiveness. The second theme, the outside world, involves the subthemes stigma and human contact. The third theme, the design of AT devices, involves the subthemes individual approach, affordability and safety. The often referred to umbrella term of 'obtrusiveness' is frequently used by many authors in the discussion, while a clear description of the concept is mostly absent. When it comes to AT use in the care for older people living at home, ethical debate appears not to be a priority. The little discussion there relies heavily on thick concepts such as autonomy and obtrusiveness which seem to complicate the debate rather than clarify it, because they contain many underlying ambiguous concepts and assumptions. Most encountered ethical objections originate from the view that people are, or should be, independent and self-determinant. It is questionable whether the view is correct and helpful in the debate on AT use in the care of frail older adults. Other ethical approaches that view people as social and reciprocal might be more applicable and shed a different light on the ethical aspects of AT use. (JL). |
| Accession Number | CPA-110801005 A |
| Classmark | M: EA: TQ: 64A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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