Is Technology a Challenge or Solution to Elder Care in China?
The rapidly aging population, the family reconstruction, and the reform and opening-up have led to the care crisis in post-reform China. This preliminary research questions why people start imaging care robots as a promising solution when struggling to find trustworthy and qualified caregivers. The complications of the COVID-19 pandemic led to an expansion of this project from a strict focus on care robots to the larger technological realm, including social media and smartphones. It also looks into different challenges that elders and adult children face in using technologies, such as the “health code” and gathering information, in daily care practices during the pandemic.