Views on Using Social Robots in Professional Caregiving: Content Analysis of a Scenario Method Workshop

Abstract

Background Interest in digital technologies in the health care sector is growing and can be a way to reduce the burden on professional caregivers while helping people to become more independent. Social robots are regarded as a special form of technology that can be usefully applied in professional caregiving with the potential to focus on interpersonal contact. While implementation is progressing slowly, a debate on the concepts and applications of social robots in future care is necessary. Objective In addition to existing studies with a focus on societal attitudes toward social robots, there is a need to understand the views of professional caregivers and patients. This study used desired future scenarios to collate the perspectives of experts and analyze the significance for developing the place of social robots in care. Methods In February 2020, an expert workshop was held with 88 participants (health professionals and educators; [PhD] students of medicine, health care, professional care, and technology; patient advocates; software developers; government representatives; and research fellows) from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Using the scenario methodology, the possibilities of analog professional care (Analog Care), fully robotic professional care (Robotic Care), teams of robots and professional caregivers (Deep Care), and professional caregivers supported by robots (Smart Care) were discussed. The scenarios were used as a stimulus for the development of ideas about future professional caregiving. The discussion was evaluated using qualitative content analysis. Results The majority of the experts were in favor of care in which people are supported by technology (Deep Care) and developed similar scenarios with a focus on dignity-centeredness. The discussions then focused on the steps necessary for its implementation, highlighting a strong need for the development of eHealth competence in society, a change in the training of professional caregivers, and cross-sectoral concepts. The experts also saw user acceptance as crucial to the use of robotics. This involves the acceptance of both professional caregivers and care recipients. Conclusions The literature review and subsequent workshop revealed how decision-making about the value of social robots depends on personal characteristics related to experience and values. There is therefore a strong need to recognize individual perspectives of care before social robots become an integrated part of care in the future.

Care Robotics: An Assessment of Professional Perception in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Similar studies have concentrated the objective of their analysis on the perception of technologies or robots in samples of health professionals and patients, both potential end users of these devices [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”

Soziale Roboter im Schweizer Gesundheitswesen – Einsatzmöglichkeiten, Chancen und Risiken aus der Sicht von potenziellen Anwendergruppen

“…Daher passt die Aufgliederung von Busse et al. ( 2021 ), in der ein Serviceroboter zu den sozialen Robotern gehört, sehr gut zu den Vorstellungen der Teilnehmenden. Es hebt hervor, dass die zukünftige Roboterentwicklung sich nicht zu starr auf die Trennung von sozialen Robotern und Servicerobotern fokussieren sollte, sondern die optimale Abstimmung zwischen funktionalen und sozialen Funktionen gesucht werden soll.…”

“…Eine der grössten Stärken dieses Projektes war, dass die Perspektiven von potenziellen Anwenderinnen und Anwendern von sozialen Robotern im Gesundheitsbereich in der Schweiz untersucht wurden, wodurch die Evidenz für Robotereinsätze im Schweizerischen Gesundheitsbereich zu den Ergebnissen von Busse et al. ( 2021 ) erweitert wurde. Zudem war es wichtig, dass nicht nur eine Berufsgruppe (z.…”

“…Hingegen ist der Einsatz von sozial assistiven Robotern, oder kurz sozialen Robotern, wie Service- und Begleitroboter (gemäß Busse et al. 2021 ), in den letzten Jahren zunehmend zu beobachten. Allerdings findet dies bisher vor allem in Form von Pilotstudien statt (Schulze et al.…”

Enhancing Nurse–Robot Engagement: Two-Wave Survey Study

“…According to reinforcement theory, when individuals observed that pleasurable consequences would follow, they are more likely to engage in a behavior [ 24 ]. As robots have only relatively recently been introduced into nurses’ workplaces [ 25 ], we may expect that a positive attitude toward robots would also motivate nurses’ engagement. Hence, we hypothesized that a positive attitude toward robots is positively related to nurse–robot engagement (H5).…”