Weiner, K. orcid.org/0000-0002-5115-8866 and Will, C. (2018) Thinking with care infrastructures: people, devices and the home in home blood pressure monitoring. Sociology of Health and Illness, 40 (2). pp. 270-282. ISSN 0141-9889
Abstract
The 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 self-monitoring. 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 self-monitoring, 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.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Foundation for SHIL. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 24 Feb 2017 14:16 |
Last Modified: | 31 Oct 2018 14:29 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12590 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1111/1467-9566.12590 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112749 |
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