Paper from the 15th Scandinavian Conference on Health Informatics SHI2017, Kristiansand, 29 - 30 August

Samandrag

New assistive technology in health care services, labelled "welfare technology" (velferdsteknologi) by the Norwegian health authorities, appears as part of the solution for a coming "crisis" in health care services.

This paper analyses experiences with introducing welfare technology in small municipalities in the region of Sogn and Fjordane. The empirical material is based on nine interviews with project groups and health care leaders in municipalities working with welfare technology. While many of the national advice and recommendations about assistive technology are good guidelines for the small municipalities in Sogn and Fjordane, the findings suggest that certain challenges are created or increased by the small size of the municipalities. This points to the importance of recognising different needs created by a variation among municipalities.