Positive Turn in Elder-Care Workers’ Views Toward Telecare Robots

Abstract

Robots have been slowly but steadily introduced to welfare sectors. Our previous observations based on a large-scale survey study on Finnish elder-care workers in 2016 showed that while robots were perceived to be useful in certain telecare tasks, using robots may also prove to be incompatible with the care workers’ personal values. The current study presents the second wave of the survey data from 2020, with the same respondents (N = 190), and shows how these views have changed for the positive, including higher expectations of telecare robotization and decreased concerns over care robots’ compatibility with personal values. In a longitudinal analysis (Phase 1), the positive change in views toward telecare robots was found to be influenced by the care robots’ higher value compatibility. In an additional cross-sectional analysis (Phase 2), focusing on the factors underlying personal values, care robots’ value compatibility was associated with social norms toward care robots, the threat of technological unemployment, and COVID-19 stress. The significance of social norms in robot acceptance came down to more universal ethical standards of care work rather than shared norms in the workplace. COVID-19 stress did not explain the temporal changes in views about robot use in care but had a role in assessments of the compatibility between personal values and care robot use. In conclusion, for care workers to see potential in care robots, the new technology must support ethical standards of care work, such as respectfulness, compassion, and trustworthiness of the nurse–patient interaction. In robotizing care work, personal values are significant predictors of the task values.

Ethics of care in technology‐mediated healthcare practices: A scoping review

“…Ways to address the core relational foundations of care ethics were visible in some articles that showed the impact of care technologies in everyday care practices and relations [23,32,38], while comparisons of conflicting underpinnings for caregiving practices were made visible by others [35,37]. Interestingly, several authors argued that care ethical theory needs development and expansion to encompass technologies and the non-human aspects of care and suggested reframing care ethics as 'occupational ethics' [39] and 'empirical ethics' [30]. Although we appreciate this turn of attention, such calls for the expansion of care ethical theory [29,31] risk undercommunicating the ways in which the ethics of care framework already manifests as highly relevant within all kinds of relations, including technology-mediated ones.…”

“…One explored moral competence and hope in caring relations [35], whereas another considered the specific ethical complexities in social networking interventions [29]. A third article explored workshop methodologies for developing collaborations involving care values [33], while the last surveyed a change in care workers' views of care robots due to variations in the value-based assessment of robot use [39].…”

“…In line with our search criteria, the terms ethics of care, care ethics, relational ethics and feminist ethics were used interchangeably. Some articles renamed or readdressed ethics of care as 'occupational ethics' [39] and 'empirical ethics' [30]. While some suggested that care ethical relations rely on technology-mediated healthcare practices as part of professional and occupational norms and values T A B L E 3 Overview of how ethics of care as a theoretical framework informs the 9 empirical studies in cluster two.…”

“…Aim of using care ethics Contribution of using care ethics The perspective of care ethics forms the basis for the hypotheses explaining HCPs' attitudes towards care robots Care ethics informs how social norms behind robot acceptance originate from more universal, ethical standards of care work (occupational ethics) rather than shared attitudes and social norms in the respondent's workplace [39], others argued that the 'empirical ethics perspective expands the relationality by including not only other humans but also technologies and other artefacts, material infrastructure, various norms, values and ideals of care and different kind of practices as important parts in configuring autonomy' [30, p. 721]. When used, the term 'feminist ethics' was deliberate.…”

Hopes and fears regarding care robots: Content analysis of newspapers in East Asia and Western Europe, 2001–2020

“…Care robots would not be the exception. A recent survey carried out in Finland demonstrated that conventionally negative views held by eldercare professionals toward telecare robots took a positive turn during the pandemic ( 97 ). It remains to be seen whether this trend is observed across Europe.…”