The Relevant Assemblage of Communication Technology - Essay Example

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES AS TRAUMA By Name Course Instructor Institution City/State Date Technological Changes as Trauma Introduction Slack and Wise (2005, p.129) define assemblage as a certain collection of articulations, which draws together, selects, encases and demarcates a territory showing some effectivity as well as tenacity. Therefore, assemblage is considered as a resource for addressing in writing and analysis the heterogeneous modernist issue in the ephemeral and at the same time maintaining the structural concept, which is exceedingly entrenched in the social science research’s enterprise. In its material referent, Marcus and Saka (2006, p.102) posit that although assemblage invests into the structure image without difficulty, it is elusive. Assemblage generates lasting conundrums regarding the ‘relationship’ and ‘process’ and provides time-limited, irregular, and odd object for review. According to Slack and Wise (2005, p.133), technology as assemblage as well as articulation provides an entirely new approach of presenting the issue of technology and culture. The objective of this paper is to discuss the technological changes as trauma with the view to elderly care. The essay will focus on the relevant assemblage of communication technology involved in elderly care; combating loneliness through human contact and mediated social relations; and the problem related to training elderly technology users to develop literacies. Discussion First, we focus on the relevant assemblage of communication technology involved in elderly care. As evidenced in seminal early papers, Baecker et al. (2014, p.29) posit that technology interest for social connectedness was ignited on social communication devices and digital family portraits early in the 21st century. Still, technology for supporting elderly communication is completely different from the conventional media spaces that were purposely created for a workplace. Assemblages components as indicated by Huff and Cotte (2015, p.896) include components, which play supportive or leading roles in disseminating the assemblage core purpose. The relations’ dynamic nature between components has been highlighted by the assemblage theory. For that reason, this lens could be utilised in organising thinking regarding the transition of families into the late phase of Family Life Cycle (FLC), which encompasses complex changes with regard to how families exist as well as the non-human components’ role in family performance, like practices, possessions and houses. Therefore, a family could be defined as components assemblage existing as well as interacting in fluid and complicated ways (Huff & Cotte, 2015, p.896). New assistive technology developments as mentioned by Miskelly (2001, p.445) are contributing enormously in the caring of ageing people both at homes and in the institutions. Electronic sensors, remote health monitoring, video-monitoring, as well as equipment like heat alarms, bed alerts and fall detectors are currently used with the objective of improving ability, security and safety of the elderly people while at home. Assistive technology is considered important because it enabled the older people to live independently with no enduring home care or nursing. For many, the home is a retreat and privacy enclave from surveillance technologies proliferation in the semi-public and public life spaces. But still, smart surveillance systems have rapidly grown in terms of development and marketing, and are currently used in homes to protect property and the dwellers. The use of heterogeneous parts to construct social entities has led to the formation of new assemblages as the elderly use new technological artefacts to engage with other people. Therefore, the distinctive tripartite technology amalgamation brings space/place and humans into being when people install systems for domestic surveillance in their homes. Such systems according to Rapoport (2012, p.320) have changed the perception of home as a place, but instead, has set home as the location of activity as well as action. Therefore, the entrance of surveillance technologies in the homes of the elderly people has led to the formation of assemblage within the tripartite combination of technology, user, and site. Basically, technology, user, and site are not yet fixed and stable entities, but the home have started assuming spatial attributes, which locate it within the spatial flux and mobility network. In this case, the elderly people who are the domestic users are incorporated as subjects and also take up the intensified agency while taking control of their bodies’ projected image and physical environment. Secondly, we focus on the health and tracking type functionality with the view to the human contact and mediated social relations to combat loneliness. Loneliness as mentioned by Singh and Misra (2009), is an idiosyncratic, negative feeling, which normally affects people experiencing deficient social relations. Normally, loneliness is caused by both internal factors (psychological and personality factors) as well as external factors (things that are missing in the social network). If unchecked, loneliness could result in serious health issues; for instance, loneliness is one of the factors that results in depression, suicide as well as suicide attempts. A number of studies as cited in Singh and Misra (2009) reveal that loneliness is associated with social relationships, frustration with family, and poor psychological change. Furthermore, social isolation normally results in functional difficulties among the elderly people. When old people lose social relations, they are inclined to develop feelings of depression and emptiness. In their study, Fees et al. (1999, p.232) established that there is a strong relationship between loneliness and personal attributes, especially anxiety. When old people are lonely, they are inclined to become anxious, which normally result in threat sensitivity, emotional instability, tension, and low integration. Therefore, the use of Internet has been suggested as a suitable solution to loneliness since it allows the elderly people to remain in contact with their families and other people as well as interact socially. Cotten et al. (2013) posit that the use of information communication technologies can facilitate the elderly people to connect with their social ties. Besides that, the use of Internet may as well reduce the effect of geographic distance and social isolation. As opined by Cotten et al. (2013) the Internet use can improve the lives of lonely aged adults. Cognitive dysfunction among the elderly patients normally results in wandering and getting lost; therefore, innovative technologies offer new electronic devices for tracking, which allows the care providers and families to manage this problem effectively. A number of technologies focusing on personal tele-safety can now be accessed in the market, and provide a ground-breaking solution to the issues facing homes and families or personnel at the long-stay institution. Such innovative, emerging technologies utilise electronic communication and tracking and devices such as mobile phone, beacons, and bracelet are yet to be espoused widely in the socio-medical field. (Laila et al., 2008, p.1). Arguably, utilisation of smart technologies can help lessen the pressure on social support and aged care health services. According to Morris et al. (2013, p.1), smart homes is one of the smart technologies designed purposely to offer unobtrusive support systems and interactive technologies that allows the older adults to enjoy independence. The movement in the smart homes connects different fields such as healthcare, technology, housing, sociology, as well as engineering in terms of social care, tele-health, robotics, communications, ergonomics, safety, and sensors. According to Morris et al. (2013), home-based smart technologies facilitate the older adults to stay in their houses instead of being institutionalised and hospitalised. Furthermore, the technologies allow for independence and promote safety. As a result, they optimise life quality as well as reduce the stress associated with health resources such as on aged care facilities. The smart home technologies are not only user-friendly, but also function resourcefully. The technologies normally perform their functions devoid of unsettling the user or causing movement restrictions, inconvenience or pain. Given that mobile devices have become a crucial part of human life, Shahriyar et al. (2009, p.14) posit that they can be used to seamlessly integrate health care into the daily lives of older adults. This could allow medical information to be delivered ubiquitously and accurately through mobile devices. Lately, cheap, lightweight, tiny, and intelligent bio-sensor nodes can be designed thanks to technological progress in low-power integrated circuits, wireless communications, as well as sensors. Such nodes, can sense, process as well as communicate important signals; therefore, they can be integrated seamlessly into body area or wireless personal networks to facilitate the mobile monitoring of the older adults’ health. Such networks facilitate durable, ambulatory, and unobtrusive health monitoring, whereby the users can get their medical records and current health status (Shahriyar et al., 2009, p.14). According to Munir and Perälä (2011, p.37), tracking devices help older adults feel independent and carry out their daily activities easily. Aside for raising independence, tracking devices improve self-motivation among the elderly people. Furthermore, social networking sites, like Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook can help the elderly people build and maintain social relation, which is very important for their well-being. Large geographical distance from their loved ones as well as impaired mobility can result in loneliness amongst the older adults. For this reason, Khosravi et al. (2016, p.597) believe that social networking sites can enable the senior maintain contact with their friends and families, regardless of the geographic distance and immobility. In their study, Kahlbaugh et al. (2011) established that playing video games can positively influence physical and cognitive stimulation since they capture natural physical activities. Therefore, playing video games results in less loneliness and improved social interaction. Thirdly, we focus on the problem of training elderly technology users with the objective of developing literacies. According to Scruton and Ferguson (2014, p.84), technology proliferation in addition to online learning has resulted in numerous learning opportunities for older adults. Many elderly people are seeking to learn technology through informal and formal training, but there are some barriers to successful learning. Given that learning technology involves learning the content delivery system as well as the content itself, older adults could become frustrated and confused by the system of learning because most of them lack experience with technology. In the modern-day society, people are relying on different forms of technology so as to function effectively in their day-to-day activities. Technology is advancing unpredictably; therefore, keep up has become more and more challenging. A training that taps into the adults’ experience strengths and laying out in advance the expectations and goals that are clearly defined can improve the participation of elderly people technology training classes. More importantly, older adults prefer being responsible for their own learning, and if prepared and guided well for the training, they are inclined to achieve high competency level. Still, anxiety as mentioned by Johnson (2006, p.12), is a major problem in the elderly technology-based training and learning. The learners’ needs can be met effectively if trainers and educators understand the factors, which influence the technology attitude of the learners. Some of the influences on anxiety and technology attitude age, the level of education, and previous technology experience. As mentioned by Meyer (2015), the increasing number of older adults requiring help on how to use technological devices has created the need for technology training. The training empowers this group of population to actively use new technologies and enable them to understand how their live scan be improved by these technologies. Technology training promotes social inclusion and enables older adults to access various electronic resources such as magazines and books. The older adults have for years been excluded in ICT deployment and although the use of ICT has increased there is still some digital divide (Neves & Amaro, 2012). ICT technologies can help improve health literacy amongst the elderly (Xie, 2012). Conclusion In conclusion, this piece has focussed on the relevant assemblage of communication technology involved in elderly care; combating loneliness through human contact and mediated social relations; and the problem related to training elderly technology users to develop literacies. As evidenced in the essay, technology should be viewed as an assemblage component instead of viewing it as an improvement or extension of human capabilities. Considering a lot of older adults are experiencing high rates of depression attributed to loneliness, it has been suggested that use of technological platforms such as social networking sites and the Internet can help improve the well-being of the elderly. The introduction of ICT technologies can help promote relationships among the elderly and their social networks. Training them how to use technology, however, will be challenging due to factors such as lack of experience, age, and level of education. References Baecker, R. et al., 2014. 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