Policy, Ethics & Life Sciences (PEALS) Research Centre, School of Geography, Politics and Sociology, Newcastle University, Newcastle, upon Tyne, UK.
Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
Sociol Health Illn. 2020 Jun;42(5):1077-1094. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.13079. Epub 2020 Mar 10.
In recent years, assistive technologies have gained acceptance as tools for supporting chronically ill patients in achieving improvements in physical activity. However, various healthcare and sociological studies show contradicting results regarding the physical and social impact of using such devices. This paper explores real-time user appropriation of an assistive monitoring/tracking device, the pedometer, in a healthcare intervention, with a particular focus on the technology identities users attribute to the pedometer. The study site was a rehabilitation programme at a local Danish health centre supporting patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. As part of this empirical study, six focus-group interviews were conducted with patients before and after they used pedometers. The analysis of respondents' accounts shows that monitoring devices become part of users' complex socio-technical ensembles in which the use of the device and its tracking of activity is constantly negotiated through experimentation with type and frequency of use; interpretation of knowledge and experience gained via the device; and negotiation of expectations, wellbeing, and the value of quantified knowledge for the management of chronic illness. On the basis of these findings the paper brings together and advances sociological scholarship on chronic illness, embodiment, the quantified self and technology adoption.
近年来，辅助技术已被广泛接受，作为支持慢性病患者改善身体活动的工具。然而，各种医疗和社会学研究表明，使用此类设备对身体和社会的影响存在矛盾的结果。本文探讨了辅助监测/跟踪设备（计步器）在医疗干预中的实时用户采用情况，特别关注用户赋予计步器的技术身份。研究地点是丹麦当地一家健康中心的康复计划，为慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者提供支持。作为这项实证研究的一部分，在患者使用计步器前后，对他们进行了六次焦点小组访谈。对受访者描述的分析表明，监测设备成为用户复杂的社会技术组合的一部分，通过实验不断协商设备的使用及其对活动的跟踪，包括使用类型和频率；通过设备获得的知识和经验的解释；以及对期望、幸福感的协商，以及量化知识在慢性病管理中的价值。基于这些发现，本文综合并推进了关于慢性病、体现、自我量化和技术采用的社会学研究。
