Home As Assemblage: A More Just Approach to Technology-Enabled Ageing in Place?

As the proportion of older people increases globally, ageing in place is given increasing value as a strategy for care. Considering the ubiquitous presence of technology in the home and in society in general, healthy ageing in place involves significant interactions between older people and digital technology to foster a dignified and independent experience of ageing.

This paper applies assemblage thinking to technology-enabled homes of older people. Assemblage thinking enables reflection on the home as not only a physical space, but also as a conflation of decisions, influences and actions, which may not always occur within the physical space conventionally called home, but that affect the experience of home. Listening to the voices of older people in Germany and Scotland, the paper will highlight the nature of interactions between older people and technology and will encourage a shift in approach to not only better understand these interactions, but to suggest ways in which they can be made more humane and just, and ultimately result in a more flexible and adaptable experience of ageing at home.

The application of qualitative tools such as home tours and interviews will enable older people to articulate their reflections on home around the use of technology for healthy ageing. The empirical focus will be Scotland and Germany. The findings are intended to shed light on the complexity of ‘home’, especially for older people, and to highlight some key theoretical as well as practical aspects of these important ideas to be considered when thinking of a more just approach to ageing in place.