Care-led innovation: The case of elderly care in France and Japan

If technologies (especially robotics, AI, digital technologies) can help the autonomy of older adults (OA), they also have limitations (difficulties of use, disconnection between design and real needs, ethical issues that may not be taken into consideration ...) identified by field actors and in the scientific literature. The objective of INNOVCARE is to try to overcome these limitations by working on a better synthesis of social and individual needs and the contributions of technologies. The project aims to define and implement a process of innovation led by care for the benefit of the autonomy of the OAs with the following goals: securing the person's environment; ensuring his or her mobility; slowing down/compensating for the loss of his or her cognitive abilities; and preserving and enhancing social ties. Based on interdisciplinarity within the SSH (central and driving forces in the project) and between SSH, medicine and engineering, it also offers a comparative perspective between France and Japan. The originality of the project lies in two central features; first, we introduce a comparison with innovation for younger individuals with a variety of disabilities. Second, we place the concept of care at the heart of the analysis of innovation, which leads us to focus not on individual users but on inter-individual and social relations, with their material and affective dimensions.

This third annual forum represents the beginning of a new step for the project following the selection of INNOVCARE for a funding by the Priority Research Programme (France 2030) “Autonomy” (2024-2028). It will focus on Japanese partners and early career researchers affiliated to the project. We will also further discuss the research agenda of INNOVCARE for the next five years.

Program