Weiner_et_al-2018-Sociology_of_Health_&_Illness.pdf (107.8 kB)
Thinking with care infrastructures: people, devices and the home in home blood pressure monitoring
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-09, 08:46 authored by Kate Weiner, Catherine WillCatherine WillThe growing consumer market in health monitoring devices means that technologies that were once the preserve of the clinic are moving into spaces such as homes and workplaces. We consider how one such device, blood pressure monitors, comes to be integrated into everyday life. We pursue the concept of ‘care infrastructure’, drawing on recent scholarship in STS and medical sociology, to illuminate the work and range of people, things and spaces involved in selfmonitoring. Drawing on a UK study involving observations and interviews with 31 people who have used a consumer blood pressure monitor, we apply the concept beyond chronic illness, to practices involving consumer devices – and develop a critical account of its value. We conclude that the care infrastructure concept is useful to highlight the socio-material arrangements involved in selfmonitoring, showing that even for ostensibly personal devices, monitoring may be a shared practice that expresses care for self and for others. The concept also helps draw attention to links between different objects and spaces that are integral to the practice, beyond the device alone. Care infrastructure draws attention to the material, but ensures that analytic attention engages with both material and social elements of practice and their connections.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Sociology of Health & IllnessISSN
0141-9889Publisher
WileyExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
40Page range
270-282Department affiliated with
- Sociology and Criminology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2017-11-09First Open Access (FOA) Date
2018-02-26First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2018-02-26Usage metrics
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