A Feminist Approach to Medical Screening

The programme examines screening for genetic diseases before attempting to conceive in the Netherlands, screening for dementia, as well as the survey "School children's health habits". The focus is on people's experiences of being screened and what norms and conceptions of health, body, normality, risk and well-being are expressed in and through the screening practices. Researchers in the project team also study the interaction between medicine, technology and society as screening programmes are developed and used. Such aspects are sometimes invisible in debates on ethical issues surrounding screening.

In order to disseminate the project's results to different types of target groups and contribute to the social debate, researchers within design and social science at Halmstad University will visualize parts of the project result in norm-critical design concepts. These concepts – artefacts – aim to create a better understanding of and discussions about assumptions and norms concerning screening, as well as the challenges and opportunities of screening.