To Use or Not to Use: The Design, Implementation and Acceptance of Technology in the Context of Health Care

Technology in general, and assistive technology in particular, is considered to be a prom- ising opportunity to address the challenges of an aging population. Nevertheless, in health care, technology is not as widely used as could be expected. In this chapter, an overview is given of theories and models that help to understand this phenomenon. First, the design of (assistive) technologies will be addressed and the importance of human- centered design in the development of new assistive devices will be discussed. Also theo- ries and models are addressed about technology acceptance in general. Specific attention will be given to technology acceptance in healthcare professionals, and the implementa- tion of technology within healthcare organizations. The chapter will be based on the state of the art of scientific literature and will be illustrated with examples from our research in daily practice considering the different perspectives of involved stakeholders.