The entwinement of policy, design and care scripts: Providing alternative choice-dependency situations with care robots
The entwinement of policy, design and care scripts: Providing alternative choice- dependency situations with care robots
This academic article examines the implementation and use of feeding robots for people with impaired arm function, drawing on an ethnographic study conducted in Denmark and Sweden. It analyzes how policy strategies promoting self-reliance, design visions of empowerment, and everyday care scripts entwine. The study argues that care robots generate alternative choice-dependency situations rather than straightforward self-reliance or obsolescence of care providers.
Summary and content fields are drawn from the document text and are pending editorial review.
Who issued it
Who it governs
Researchers, policymakers, and healthcare practitioners interested in the socio-technical implications and practical implementation of assistive care robotics.
What the document contains
The article addresses the interplay between government welfare technology policies, technology design visions, and everyday care practices regarding feeding robots used by people with reduced arm function. It explores how these different domains shape the adoption, modification, or termination of assistive feeding technologies.
The text does not provide technical specifications for robot hardware, legal regulations for medical device deployment, or formal ethical codes of conduct for manufacturers.
- Care robots do not simply create self-reliance or make care providers obsolete, but rather co-create alternative arrangements of choice and dependency.
- Embedded scripts from policy and design often clash with effective scripts encountered in daily care practices and institutional settings.
- The use of feeding robots gives end-users modest choices regarding their eating partners and dining contexts, though practical limitations remain.
- Discrepancies between political expectations of large-scale cost reduction and the messy realities of care implementation can lead to friction and discontinued use.
· INTRODUCTION · THE ENTWINEMENT OF SCRIPTS APPROACH AND THEORETICAL FOUNDATION · METHODS · ANALYSIS · DISCUSSION—IMPLICATIONS OF SCRIPTS FOR POLICY, DESIGN AND CARE · CONCLUSION
How it scores
Each score is backed by a quote verified against the document text. Editorial review has not yet confirmed them.
Fairness
0/5Non-discrimination and equitable treatment
N/A
screening score · 2026-10-24
Privacy
0/5Protection of personal data and private life
N/A
screening score · 2026-10-24
Enforcement
0/5Consequences and compliance mechanisms with real force
N/A
screening score · 2026-10-24