Transcendent Technology and Mobile eHealth

Abstract

Technology is becoming a common place in the lives of all of us, the potential for it to help deliver health and social care is exciting. However, the full potential of this won’t be recognised if there is a failure to understand how such technology is interwoven within our daily lives. It must be remembered not everyone can interact with technology in the same way. Yet technology is often developed around the lives of the imagined average citizen, meaning many people can be disadvantaged by not having technology fit their into lives. Systems are still designed to help others in a rather paternalistic fashion. Therefore more needs to be done to involve the end users of the technology in the design of technology such as mobile ehealth (mhealth) and move towards a bottom up transcendent rather than technocratic approach to technology. In addition, there should be more space for understanding how technology, such as mhealth, can change society, examining how it challenges moral dilemmas and ethics. Regulation is important when developing new technology, but it needs to cover changes in practice not just the technology itself. Mobile ehealth also effects many current debates in the lives of older people and those in marginalised groups of society, including challenging systems of health and social care but also housing, transport and economics. More research is needed in the area of mhealth but the research must continue to be multi-disciplinary and fully involve stakeholders and end-users for full potential to be realised.