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Ageing in a Digital Care Ecology : Older Adults’ Digital Agency in Home Care

Vieira da Silva, Catarina and Möllergren, Glenn LU (2026) p.91-121
Abstract
Research concerning digital engagement among older adults frequently frames technology use in terms of access deficiencies and skill gaps and emphasises the need for training and inclusion initiatives. Additional research underscores how self-efficacy, ageism, COVID-19 and the emergence of assistive technologies influence everyday adoption practices. This chapter builds upon these perspectives while directing attention to digital agency as a mundane everyday phenomenon within a welfare and care ecology. Based on interviews with and the diaries and observations of 14 home care users in southern Sweden (aged 71–95 years), the study analyses how individuals engage with e-identification, online banking, grocery ordering, transport booking,... (More)
Research concerning digital engagement among older adults frequently frames technology use in terms of access deficiencies and skill gaps and emphasises the need for training and inclusion initiatives. Additional research underscores how self-efficacy, ageism, COVID-19 and the emergence of assistive technologies influence everyday adoption practices. This chapter builds upon these perspectives while directing attention to digital agency as a mundane everyday phenomenon within a welfare and care ecology. Based on interviews with and the diaries and observations of 14 home care users in southern Sweden (aged 71–95 years), the study analyses how individuals engage with e-identification, online banking, grocery ordering, transport booking, health portal navigation and everyday reliance on messaging, social media and streaming services. Many of these activities are pragmatic adaptations to home care routines—such as strict scheduling, digital restrictions, and fragmented services—rather than intentional efforts towards digital inclusion, which highlights the importance of social work in recognising and understanding older adults’ digital agency as part of the realities of care. Agency is used in this chapter as an analytical lens rather than as a normative ideal. It is understood as relational, often shared with family members and care personnel and situated within a specific care setting in the broader digitalised ecology of a Northern welfare state. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Social Work in the 21st Century
editor
Catarina Vieira da Silva, Ana and da Costa Oliveira, Maria
pages
91 - 121
publisher
Springer
ISBN
978-3-032-27335-2
978-3-032-27338-3
978-3-032-27336-9
DOI
10.1007/978-3-032-27336-9_6
project
Vård- och omsorgssystemets navigatörer – hur äldre förstår, förhandlar och koordinerar hemtjänst och andra hjälpinsatser i sin vardag
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
b57f5030-59ce-4b5c-94db-38037925e785
date added to LUP
2026-08-17 11:26:01
date last changed
2026-08-20 09:24:25
@inbook{b57f5030-59ce-4b5c-94db-38037925e785,
  abstract     = {{Research concerning digital engagement among older adults frequently frames technology use in terms of access deficiencies and skill gaps and emphasises the need for training and inclusion initiatives. Additional research underscores how self-efficacy, ageism, COVID-19 and the emergence of assistive technologies influence everyday adoption practices. This chapter builds upon these perspectives while directing attention to digital agency as a mundane everyday phenomenon within a welfare and care ecology. Based on interviews with and the diaries and observations of 14 home care users in southern Sweden (aged 71–95 years), the study analyses how individuals engage with e-identification, online banking, grocery ordering, transport booking, health portal navigation and everyday reliance on messaging, social media and streaming services. Many of these activities are pragmatic adaptations to home care routines—such as strict scheduling, digital restrictions, and fragmented services—rather than intentional efforts towards digital inclusion, which highlights the importance of social work in recognising and understanding older adults’ digital agency as part of the realities of care. Agency is used in this chapter as an analytical lens rather than as a normative ideal. It is understood as relational, often shared with family members and care personnel and situated within a specific care setting in the broader digitalised ecology of a Northern welfare state.}},
  author       = {{Vieira da Silva, Catarina and Möllergren, Glenn}},
  booktitle    = {{Social Work in the 21st Century}},
  editor       = {{Catarina Vieira da Silva, Ana and da Costa Oliveira, Maria}},
  isbn         = {{978-3-032-27335-2}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{07}},
  pages        = {{91--121}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  title        = {{Ageing in a Digital Care Ecology : Older Adults’ Digital Agency in Home Care}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-27336-9_6}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/978-3-032-27336-9_6}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}