Digitalization in (Health) Care and the impacts on the interaction work

Symposion: Working for the greater good in services: risks and innovation impacts on employees’ wellbeing Oral presentation: Kumbruck: Digitalization in Health and Old People’s Care and the Impacts on the Interaction Work Purpose: Digitalization like roboter to lift or feed care receiver or like electronic patient documentation, e.g. on smartphones, changes interaction and communication between care givers and care receivers. From our research projects (Projektgruppe verfassungsverträgliche Technikgestaltung: Mobile information and communication tools in the hospital; Das Ethos fürsorglicher Praxis in der Pflege) shows impacts. Design/Methodology/Approach/Intervention: Qualitative studies (simulation studies; narrative Interviews, observations,) with more than 60 experimentees in different health care institutions. Results: The interaction is mediated by electronic tools. The nurses are confident by the electronic assistance and workload reduction; but they are afraid of more distance in the relationship to the patients, more mixing of private and working time activities or more observation by their superiors. The most critical aspect is seen in the patient documentation. Limitations: These studies are explorative ones. Especially the simulation study is an experimental design. Research/Practical Implications: There is need for more and quantitative studies. The results give a lot of indications that the organizational and political frameworks of health care are important moderators of the impacts of the digitalization in health care. Originality/Value: The studies have an important perspective on the change in the relationship between health care givers and receivers by digitalization – a topic, which concerns everybody