Welfare Technology in Assisted Living Facilities

This report on welfare technology in assisted living facilities in the City of Aarhus examines whether, when and how welfare technologies entail improved quality of life for citizens, better working environment for employees and financial gains for the municipality.
Welfare technology can improve the quality of life remarkably for those citizens who are both mentally and physically capable of using such technologies. Moreover, welfare technologies can improve the quality of life for the group of debilitated citizens who can use these technologies when provided with competent and regular guidance. Thus, using welfare technologies with these groups can improve the working environment for employees, save time and reduce absenteeism due to sickness, ultimately leading to financial gains.
Conversely, introducing welfare technologies to debilitated citizens without providing them with regular and competent guidance may lead to diminished quality of life for this group. This could, for example, be citizens who are intimidated by the prospect of using welfare technologies. Thus, using welfare technologies with this group may deteriorate working environment for employees and lead to more tasks, ultimately increasing the time spent on care and increasing the level of sick leave.
The report was commissioned by the City of Aarhus and financed by the Danish Agency for Digitalisation.