Constructing IT and Professional Identity: Introducing Mobile Informatics in Home Care

Implementation of a palm-based information system in home care is part of a larger process of change in communal services for elderly. Workers in home care are questioning their professional identity and the quality of services, while the managers of home care see the introduction of computers as an opportunity to achieve effectiveness both by upgrading the working practices into a more professional direction, and through introducing information technology for the first time in this context. During the organizational implementation of a mobile system, the workers saw the palm-based system mostly as a system of control and felt that they were no longer trusted. The changes emerging suggest that, for example, the system also strengthens the workers ́ awareness of working practices. The research is being carried out as a longitudinal ethnographic study, over several years, and it aims for a thick description of this change process.