Smart is (Not) Always Digital!

Abstract

The value of rollers for the elderly and other groups who need walking assistance has been underestimated both in terms of practice and in knowledge production. This paper aims at scrutinising the roller as an age-based and gendered innovation. Using the theoretical notion of scripts, it demonstrates how rollers and their users are intertwined in everyday practices and how these relationships intersect with notions of age and social welfare provision. Based on contrasting images of rollers and their users, as well as semi-structured interviews, this paper examines the puzzle of how the take-up of new (technological) devices comes about. It argues that the roller can be seen as a simple, disruptive innovation emerging from the bottom up with contradictory scripts of gender and age. The paper concludes with a perspectivation of how the rollers could be made both smarter and digital!

Appendix: The Interview Material

During February 2021, a total of 14 respondents in an age range of 70 to 98 were interviewed. They all live in their own homes – including self-owned houses, rented or self-owned apartments, and a few live in municipal elderly apartments. The sample was identified and selected according to the snowball method and with emphasis given to including city, suburban and small town residents, as well as to ensuring social diversity. In addition, three professional care/ergonomic workers from the Copenhagen area were interviewed to provide accounts of how laws were interpreted and their more general views on the roller users and their problems. The design of the interview chart and the professional interviews has been assisted by Stud. Scient. Soc. Stine Petersen. Most of the interviews took place over the phone due to Covid-19 restrictions and followed a questionnaire with open questions. Parts of the interviews were recorded, transcribed or reproduced according to careful note taking done during the interviews and then inserted into a standardised chart. A few of the respondents had access to a computer and provided written answers after a phone introduction. The Covid-19 restrictions also prevented the inclusion of broader constituencies in terms of gender and ethnicity, planned to be approached in public places streets or shopping malls. The aims of the interviews were: 1. Collect personal accounts from roller users. What motivated them to acquire the roller and who was the provider – private or public – and how were they instructed to use it? 2. Description of daily use – both inside and outside the home. 3. Experiences – good and bad – and, where possible, a brief photo elicitation where the respondents commented on a sample of pictures with roller users doing various activities. Basic information provided in chart.

Gender	Age	Profession	Location	Civil status	Roller user
1. Female	75	Public service/middle manager	Provincial town	Widowed for 7 years	Potential roller user, husband was user
2. Female	89	Office worker/hospital aid, domestic work	Small town	Single	1 year – walking impairment, roller on own initiative
3. Male	83	Bank accountant	Cop. Suburbia/middle class/high income area	Divorced	Walking impairment Does not want a roller
4. Female	71	Consultant/analyst	Cop. Suburbia/low – middle income	Married	Active, no need for a roller, but is ok with it if needed
5. Female	90	School teacher	Provincial town	Single	5–6 years – roller allocated after fall
6. Female	86	School teacher	Cop. suburbia/middle-high income	Single	2–3 years – roller allocated after fall/ hospital operation
7. Female	98	Housewife/assistant for husband/dentist Clinique	Cop. Suburbia/middle-high income	Widow	Occasional roller user/husband full use after fall
8. Female	95 (passed away shortly after communication)	Housewife/assistant for husband/clergy	Small town	Widow	Intense roller user – high roller/ low roller 7- 8 years
9. Female	86	Social and health assistant/elderly people	Cop. Suburbia/ low-middle income area	Single	2–3 years - roller allocated after a fall
10. Female	77	Flight attendant/stewardess	Cop. Suburbia/middle/high income	Divorced	Potential roller user/reluctantly uses stick currently
11. Female	89	Social worker	Cop. Suburbia/middle-high income	Widowed	1 year – roller user after a fall. Has 2 rollers, indoor/outdoor
12. Female	70	Shop assistant, executive secretary, marketing assistant, receptionist	Big provincial town	Married, lives apart – in the same complex	Roller use due to Parkinson’s disease – roller user for 8 years. Has 2 rollers, indoor/outdoor
13. Female	76	Business education – marketing chief	Big provincial town	Divorced, no kids	Roller provided based on advice after back operation Uses roller together with stick + e-scooter + cars
14. Female	84	Textile worker, shop assistant + own shop	Big provincial town	Single – 2 marriages, 3 kids, 0 grandchildren	Roller user – recommended, bought it herself Roller supplemented by a scooter