Visions of Care
Short description
As home care services becomes increasingly important in Sweden, the sector is also undergoing rapid digitalisation driven by demands for efficiency. Digital systems visually highlight some aspects of care while downplaying others. In this artistic research project, we use drawing, observations and exhibitions to explore how visualizations of care shape what is valued in home care.
Home care services are becoming increasingly important in Sweden as the population ages, while demands for efficiency are driving a rapid digitalisation of the sector. Digital systems visualise care, highlighting some aspects while omitting others. Despite this, the question of how visualisations shape care is overlooked.
This artistic research project aims to develop drawing as a method for seeing the relations between how care is visualised and how it is valued in home care services.
Research questions:
• How do different visualisations of care relate to how care work is valued in home care services?
• What tensions and overlaps exist between different ways of visualising care work?
• How can political and social consequences of visualising care work in this sector be communicated to relevant stakeholders?
In our project, we observe how staff interact with the existing visualisations of their work (that is, the digital interfaces for planning, providing and documenting care). Meanwhile, we create new visualisations of the interactions in home care services through drawing.
Selected drawings and digital visualisations of care will then be used to curate exhibitions about home care, where we, together with caregivers, people who receive home care and other stakeholders, examine the relationship between visualisations of care and how care is valued in home care services.
Combining art practices and care practices allows us to ask questions about what care is – and what it can be. The overall purpose is to create space for conversation and reflection that can contribute to meaningful and sustainable developments of home care services for both caregivers and people who receive home care.
Project members
