Environmental impacts of digital services for health and wellbeing in the home

为了了解数码科技（例如视讯对讲系统）和服务（例如远程护理）对环境的影响，这些服务广泛提供给老年人的特殊社会房屋（例如独立生活计划），本项目研究i)建筑环境（例如这些房屋使用的材料和系统）；Ii)使用者/长者如何与这些数码科技互动；以及iii)专业电子卫生中介机构在提供家庭卫生服务方面的作用和经验。我们量化了这些技术和服务在家庭中的环境影响，从摇篮到坟墓/整个生命周期，包括它们的碳足迹和水足迹，以及它们导致资源枯竭的程度等)。在此基础上，我们与使用者、护理人员、技术提供者和物业管理人员合作，通过改变技术、建筑环境以及使用和提供的实践，找出改善这些环境影响的替代方法。以一种互补的方式，从不同的角度理解社会和技术过程，这些过程涉及到在家庭中塑造这些技术和服务，这是该项目的一个基本方面。因此，我们使用混合方法，例如基于叙述的访谈和案例研究，以及数据，例如向卫生专业人员拨打的视频电话数量；数字系统的能源使用情况，以及在老年人社会住房中评估这些技术和服务对环境影响的技术效率。为了更好地了解这些不同的社会和技术方面以及它们如何相互作用，我们与用户、卫生专业人员和更广泛的组织和个人群体合作，这些组织和个人直接或间接地参与了这些数字技术和服务的发生，从而使这些群体能够谈论对他们重要的事情，而不是遵循我们预先确定的议程。我们根据这个输入调整我们在整个项目中所做的事情。在整个项目中，我们将积极直接地采取行动，减少研究项目本身的所有部分对环境的影响，而不仅仅是实施小而平凡的改变（例如在研究过程中使用更少或不使用纸张），以提出新的方法来收集数据，计划活动并与研究的关键受众接触。例如，我们将通过重复使用设备（IT，数字记录器等）来延长研究产品的使用寿命，并在不同的团队之间共享设备。为了做到这一点，我们将制定一个可持续研究计划，利用现有的最佳做法，并通过与我们将与之合作的关键人员和组织的持续协商。该计划将随着我们与不同合作伙伴的接触以及项目的需求而发展。我们会持续监察本署的工作表现，并就环境可持续发展作出报告，以确保我们确实透过计划改善环境或直接令环境受惠。与几个主要合作伙伴合作：Orbit（住房协会），Appello（数字系统开发商），NHS digital（健康服务提供商）和UCL的明天之家2050项目：家庭医疗保健的愿景（一个沉浸式互动空间，30年后的未来家庭被激活），使我们能够追踪和观察一些数字技术的发展，在家庭中的使用以及嵌入到更广泛的数字健康环境中。这为项目提供了一个联系和全面的视图。最重要的是，我们将共同努力，找出新的切实可行的方法，采取直接行动，并通过在家中使用数字技术和服务来改善环境。

In order to understand the environmental impact of digital technologies (e.g. video intercom systems) and services (e.g. telecare), offered widely in special social housing for elderly people (e.g. independent living schemes), this project studies i) the built environment (e.g. the materials and systems used in such homes); ii) how users/elderly people interact with these digital technologies; and iii) the roles and experiences of professional eHealth intermediaries in providing health services in the home. We quantify the environmental impacts of these technologies and services in the home, from cradle to grave/throughout their lifecycle, in terms of their carbon and water footprints, the extent to which they lead to depletion of resources, etc). On the basis of these and working with users, carers, technology providers and property managers, we identify alternative ways of improving these environmental impacts through changes in the technologies, built environment and practices of use and provision. Providing different angles of understanding the social and technological processes involved in shaping these technologies and services in the home, in a complementary way is a fundamental aspect of the project. Therefore, we use a mixture of methods, such as narrative-based interviews and case studies, and data, such as number of video calls out to health professionals; energy usage by digital systems and how efficiently are technologies used to evaluate the environmental impact of these technologies and services as they take place in social housing for the elderly. To better understand these different social and technological aspects and how they interact with each other, we work with users, health professionals and a broader group of organisations and individuals which are directly and indirectly part of the ways in which these digital technologies and services take place, in a way which enables these groups to talk about things that matter to them rather than follow our pre-determined agenda. We adjust what we are doing throughout the project according to this input. Throughout the project we will actively and directly take action to reduce the environmental impact of the research project itself in all its parts, not only implementing small and mundane changes (such as using less or no paper in the process of research) to coming up with new ways to collect data, plan events and engage with key audiences for the research. For example, we will extend the lifespan of research products by reusing equipment (IT, digital recorders, etc.) and share equipment between the different teams. To do this we will develop a Sustainable Research plan, using existing best practices, and through continuous consultation with the key people and organisations we will be working with. The plan will evolve with our engagement with different partners and with the needs of the project. We will continuously monitor our performance and report on environmental sustainability to ensure that we are indeed enhancing or directly benefiting the environment through the project. Working with several key partners: Orbit (a housing association), Appello (a digital system developer), NHS Digital (health service provider) and UCL's Tomorrow's Home 2050 project: Visions of Home-based Healthcare (an immersive interactive space where the home of the future in 30 years' time is brought alive), allows us to trace and observe some of the digital technologies during their development, use in the home and as embedded within a broader digital health environment. This offers the project a connected and comprehensive view. Most importantly, we will work together to identify new practical ways of taking direct action and doing so, to enhance the environment through the use of digital technologies and services in the home.