What will happen to the empathy of caregiving as more and more technology and automation enters the care system?

In this panel discussion, we explore the impact of the technologicalisation of care on empathy. The challenges in elderly services are diverse, reflecting on the well-being of caregivers and the social inclusion experienced by the elderly. At the heart of good care is empathy, the ability to put oneself in another person’s shoes. We will discuss how empathy can be strengthened in care work and how it affects the quality of life of those being cared for. We will also discuss the role of technology in care work and its impact on carers’ ability to maintain empathy in the elderly care process. Join us to reflect on the future of humane and empathetic care!

• Eveliina Saari

  Eveliina Saari, PhD, is a senior researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health and an Associate Professor of adult education at the University of Jyväskylä. She researches digital transformation at work. In recent years, Saari has been researching empathy in the technologising elderly care work.

  “Do we value enough the empathy between caregiver and elderly client? Or are we rushing to enhance care with technologies in such a way that the potential for empathy is diminishing?”

• Antti Hämäläinen

  Antti Hämäläinen is a social scientist from Tampere, who studies caregiving relationships and their technologicalisation at the Centre of Excellence for Research on Ageing and Care, University of Jyväskylä. Hämäläinen discusses the foundations of good care and the reasons for the weakening of these foundations.

  “Technology always creates new vulnerabilities when solving challenges.”

• Tiina Sihto

  Tiina Sihto is a postdoc at the University of Helsinki in the Strategic Research Council-funded consortium Economic and social sustainability across time and space in an ageing society (SustAgeable).

  “The discussion on technologicalisation too often forgets about the workers and customers.”

• Tea Mills

  Tea Mills is a Senior Sales Manager in the Health Technology unit of Tamro Plc. She has strong expertise in health technology and service design. For Mills, an important part of her job is to think about how health technology and empathy meet in today’s care work. Mills is interested in robotics and how it can be used in care work. For example, how can technology be used in home care and how can it be used to enable older people to live in their own homes for as long as possible?

  “Technology is changing the way we work. But empathy is still an important skill, especially in care work. By combining technology and empathy, we can create a more humane and understanding environment, both online and in the physical world.”

• Vilja Levonius

  Vilja Levonius, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, studies empathic interaction in the elderly services. Her main themes are managing the ethical burden in the health and social care sector and responsible work shaping.

  “People always come first. Technology must be the one to adapt and flex, not the worker.”