Thinking Through the Future of Care: Elder People’s Understandings of, and Feelings About, Robotic Interventions in Elder Care

Abstract

In the past several years interdisciplinary academic consideration has turned toward finding possible solutions to the increasing problem of unmet elder care requirements, one solution being the introduction of new robotic care technologies. This thesis addresses the future of elder care and the possibilities for change within the field of care-change that may no longer involve only human reorientation, but also non-human robotic transformation. Opinion varies on whether this potential for change will be inspired by technological advances, a growth in an elder population coupled with financial and labour constraints, or the consistent and ongoing devaluation of human care work. Whatever the inspiration may be, this work focuses on the fact that there exists an unknown future of caring, one that will certainly involve some mainstream manifestation of the non-human care robot, and collaboration between socially and scientifically focused researchers. Drawing on original research involving interviews with elder people regarding their understandings of and feelings about robotic interventions in elder care, this thesis presents the perspectives of a rarely consulted population and finds the future of non-human care to be marked by uncertainty and fear but also by an unexpected sense of hope in the companionship of robots.