Background: There is a gap between ambitions regarding child participation in care contexts and actual practices, partly due to a lack of supportive tools. Children’s influence is determined by structures, technology, and norms within these sociotechnical settings but there is a knowledge gap on how novel digital tools might counteract excluding norms and empower children to make their voices heard.

Purpose of the Study: Based on interviews with professionals this study aims to understand how digital communication support tools influence norm-transformation related to child participation in care contexts.

Methods: The study had an explorative design with a Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology. Professionals (n=11) in healthcare and social services (7 professions represented) that had tested a digital communication support tool with children in their practice were interviewed about child participation and their experiences of introducing the support tool.

Findings: Data patterns indicate that when the tool was added into the context, dynamics changed. The professionals experienced that the tool both had an influence on the participation of the child and changed their own perspectives on participation and their own role in relation to child participation. The perceived gains for children from using the tool were related to access and autonomy.

Conclusion: The study adds knowledge on how digital communication support tools may influence child participation norms and professional’s perspectives on participation in care contexts.