Au Québec, c’est depuis 1995 que le vocable « virage ambulatoire » est utilisé pour parler d’un système où le milieu de vie se voit officialisé comme lieu de dispensation des services de santé. Ce virage constitue en quelque sorte un changement des fonctions « providentielles » de l’État. Dans ce contexte de transfert des soins des centres hospitaliers vers le milieu naturel, les proches-aidants, déjà surchargés de responsabilités liées au soutien à domicile de leurs parents âgés, s’en voient imposer encore davantage. Ces aidants n’offrent pas que de l’aide et du soutien, mais également des soins qui peuvent être complexes et qui exigent des technologies de plus en plus sophistiquées à domicile.

Home care technology can be pivotal in improving patients’ health and, in turn, their autonomy, mobility, and quality of life. When moved out of the hospital environment, intravenous (IV) therapy, oxygen therapy, parenteral nutrition (PN), and peritoneal dialysis (PD) enable fuller participation in personal relationships and important social activities such as work, travel, and family gatherings.

Does “home care” happen exclusively in a place called “home”? Or does it actually occur in several places, including out in the broader social world? And even when patients use their devices exclusively at home, are all their homes the same?

Truth is, there’s no universal place in which home care technology is used. Moving health technologies away from hospitals means patients will use them in a wide variety of private and public spaces.

High-tech home care involves more than simply moving a particular device out of the hospital into a new location. In addition to the effects place has on patients’ use of technology, we need to consider the influence of other people. More precisely, we need to understand how technology is woven into human relationships – some intimate and some professional, but all of them influential.