“It’s NOT a toy”

Falls, body and personal control in the everyday life of older adults living with an emergency call in own residence

Abstract

This article focuses on the meaning of falls in the everyday life of older adults living with an emergency call in own residence. The emergency call is a communication technol- ogy integrated into the Danish eldercare prac- tice as a response to the high risk of falling among older adults. Current research in falls and fall prevention is predominantly based in biomedical and physiological understandings of the body focusing on health risks and pre- ventive strategies. This article is working with a dialectical understanding of the aging body including bodily rhythms in time and space. The theoretical and methodological framework of the article is critical psychological practice research combined with critical STS and criti- cal gerontology. Empirically, the article draws on semi-structured interviews on a backdrop of extensive participant observation in multiple practices of eldercare. The analysis is based on the perspective of older adults on the emer- gency call. The article shows how technology- mediated eldercare matters to how older adults understand themselves and their possibilities for action. A key point is that conducting ev- eryday life as an older adult with an emergen- cy call implies involvement in negotiations on when, how, and for what to use the emergency call. The article discusses how experiences, un- derstandings, risk of falling, and emergency calls are mediated through the organization and practices of caring for older adults in the con- text of the welfare state. The participation and negotiation of older adults in these practices is relationally anchored. The article shows how dominant understandings of fall hazards, and the aging body downplays the mental, discur- sive, and normative dimensions of the meaning of falls in older adults’ everyday life. These understandings have a norm-setting signifi- cance for the older adult and potentially installs uncertainties and limits opportunities in their daily struggles for personal control.