5 May 2011
The EFORTT project (Ethical Frameworks for Telecare Technologies for older people at home), is concerned with the implications of the introduction of remote care technologies worn, installed or embedded in the homes of older citizens/frail older people. It addresses an ethical and democratic deficit in this field which has arisen due to a proliferation in research and development of advanced care technologies that has not been accompanied by sufficient consideration of their social context. In-depth qualitative research methods will deepen the understanding of ethical issues raised by these developments and will develop qualitative approaches to understand the making of practice around telecare in both preventive and responsive modes. It will also develop deliberative approaches to the making of remote carepolicy at a European level by separately recruiting citizens’ panels of older people and carers in each partner’s region. By convening these panels twice: early in the research to gain citizens views about care systems, and later to consider research findings from the project, the study will develop a grounded evaluative and ethical framework to enhance the legitimacy of European policymaking in this highly sensitive area.
Booklet: Telecare for older people living at home: questions for potential users and their families
