Dual scripts and incongruent innovation: implementing social technology in homecare services

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Sociology of Health and Illness
• Technology Implementation Studies

Background:

• Implementing new technologies in healthcare services presents significant challenges despite policy initiatives.
• Community homecare services face unique hurdles in adopting digital solutions for patient care.
• The repurposing of social technologies for healthcare requires careful consideration of user needs and existing practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the implementation of a social technology, Komp, within Norwegian community homecare services.
• To analyze the factors contributing to the partial implementation and resistance of Komp in a healthcare context.
• To explore the theoretical implications of using multi-purpose technologies and co-creation in service innovation.

Main Methods:

• A collaborative research and development project involving the implementation of Komp in four homecare teams.
• Extensive fieldwork with 68 sessions over two years to observe technology use and interactions.
• Semi-structured interviews with 16 participants across homecare teams to gather qualitative insights.

Main Results:

• Komp's implementation resulted in a split outcome, being partially implemented and partially not.
• The original 'family script' of Komp conflicted with its intended 'service script' in homecare, leading to professionals disregarding the new function.
• The failure to collaboratively develop the service script and the coexistence of dual scripts created opposition and impeded integration.

Conclusions:

• The dual-script nature of multi-purpose technologies can hinder their implementation in new service contexts like homecare.
• Co-creation projects require careful management of differing user expectations and script development to foster successful technology adoption.
• Understanding the interplay of technology's original purpose and its intended application is crucial for innovation in health services.