Sensing Old Age: Travelling technologies and the configurations of ageing in Denmark and Korea
The challenge of aging societies has become an international matter of concern. In this context, assistive and other digital technologies are being promoted as part of a global solution that may not only empower the elderly, but also help cut the expenses involved in the increasing need for caretakers and caretaking.
The project ‘Sensing Old Age’ will examine the embedded assumptions, imagined potentials and concrete practices related to the use of technologies that target an ageing population.
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in Denmark and Korea, our research will explore how assistive living technologies are developed, introduced and used in encounters between the elderly, health professionals and tech industry in these two different contexts. Furthermore, the project examines how such technologies travel and come to mediate the sensory body and care relationships across cultural and institutional contexts, as well as how they configure age, aging and the elderly in the process.
In order to explore these issues our ethnographic focal points will include:
- The international collaborations and engagements related to assistive welfare technologies and the challenges of ageing societies across the Danish and Korean context.
- The testing and development of such assistive technologies in ‘living labs’ and at other facilities.
- The experiences with such technologies by their target groups, notably the elderly, professional caretakers and/or family members in and across these two cultural contexts.
Applying a comparative and case based approach involving Denmark and South Korea will give us a unique opportunity to explore the specificities and potential frictions involved in ‘becoming old’, as well as the challenges involved in developing and implementing technological solutions that target the challenges of ageing society and the elderly in a cross-cultural and transnational setting.
In preparation.
The project is supported by the Nordea Foundation and part of the Center for Healthy Aging, UCPH.
Activities 2020
Teaching medical anthropology advanced, digital technologies in health care
Guest lectures
Activities 2019
June
South Korea field trip
- Presentation of the project, sensing Old Age at the KORECA (Korean Rehabilitation and Senior Care) conference, Busan, South Korea.
- Visiting potential fieldwork partners and places in Busan, SKR.
September
- Meeting and ongoing discussions with innovation Center Southern Denmark in order to establish collaboration on welfare technologies and aging.
- Fieldwork with Health Care Denmark, visits to Lundbech, Leo Pharma, Sundhed.dk, and the Ministry of Health with Korean delegation.
October
Initial fieldwork meeting with health staff in Ærø, in order to determine the frames of forthcoming fieldwork
November
Participation in the WHINN (Week of Health and Innovation) conference, meeting with fieldwork partner from National rehabilitation Center in Seoul, South Korea.
December
Presentation of the project 'Sensing old age' with the CEHA advisory board, Center for Healthy Aging. Dec. 4th and 5th.
Researchers
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search in Name | Search in Title | Search in Phone | |
| Line Hillersdal | Associate Professor |
Funded by:
The project has recieved funding from Nordea Fonden.
Project: Sensing Old Age: Travelling technologies and the configurations of ageing in Denmark and Korea
Period: 2019-2024
Contact
Line Hillersdal
Department of Anthropology
Mail: line.hillersdal@anthro.ku.dk
Phone: +45 30 29 82 21