Negotiating Digital Technologies in Palliative Home Cares

Most Europeans wish to spend their final hours at home, surrounded by loved ones. Specialist palliative home care services have been
established to fulfill this wish, even for patients facing severe terminal illnesses. The sociological research project NEDIPAL: Negotiating
Digital Technologies in Palliative Home Care aims to better understand the intricacies and challenges of using digital technologies –
such as teleconsultations, apps, wearables, and artificial intelligence – to make palliative home care more accessible to a broader range of
patient groups, while also enhancing its economic and environmental sustainability. Current research typically views digital technology
usage in palliative home care either from the viewpoint of patients and family caregivers or of professionals, with both seeming decoupled
from one another. In contrast, NEDIPAL examines the co-production of palliative home care by professionals in collaboration with
patients and family caregivers, through the lens of systems and organizational theory. The sociological project transcends disciplinary
boundaries by integrating insights from health services research, palliative medicine, communication, and digital inclusion. The research
will involve qualitative on-site field studies in the Belgian region of Wallonia at five interdisciplinary “Équipes de soutien à domicile”.
NEDIPAL is hosted by BRISPO, an interdisciplinary research center specializing in digitalization, health, life course, and aging. With
my supervisor’s international experience and unique competence, along with my prior research in palliative home care and experience
in France, I am confident that I will achieve NEDIPAL’s research and training objectives and position myself as a leader in research on
the digitalization of palliative care. This project will prepare me for achieving my mid-term career goal of working in Belgium or France
and help me advance my non-academic career as an expert in digital health services.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program under grant agreement No 101202730.