Care Workers Making Use of Robots: Results of a Three-Month Study on Human-Robot Interaction within a Care Home (original) (raw)

Towards collaboration between professional caregivers and robots - A preliminary study

2016

In this paper, we address the question of which potential use of a robot in a health-care environment is imagined by people that are not experts in robotics, and how these people imagine to teach new movements to a robot. We report on the preliminary results of our investigation , in which we conducted 40 interviews with non-experts in robotics and a focus group with professional caregivers.

Robotics in Homecare – the Development Process Through a Case Study

INTED2017 Proceedings, 2017

In today's Europe nearly every country is facing the huge challenges of an ageing society and population. The digitalisation is spreading rapidly and is reflected in all levels of society, especially the everyday life of citizens [1]. Older people as users or clients and professionals in the field of healthcare and social welfare should be actively involved when robots are developed and tested to be used as new technological solutions. It is currently possible to develop care robots and new digital services that can respond the needs and expectations of older people living independently in their own homes as well as those who receive homecare. The challenge is to develop and study interaction between the robots and users as older people and professionals. The development and piloting of interactive care robots require engaged cooperation from the actors in real life contexts. Cities or municipalities, companies, users, academia, and professionals from public and private health and social care systems should work together to co-create new user-friendly robots and new services. The purpose of this article is to describe a study on how homecare workers see their own work and the current homecare situation. The study is a starting point for conducting a case study and living lab research aiming to answer the question of what new services can be developed through robotics and how care robots can be used in the homecare context. The data was collected through focus group interviews and through an individual-based SWOT assignment. During the first phase of data collection, the main aim was to grasp the meaning of the present situation of homecare. Interviews with homecare workers showed that currently, homecare is demanding, and most older people living at home feel alone and unsafe. Care robots and social robots may be the solution for responding to the needs of older people in homecare. SWOT analyses of robots revealed which types of robots, and how the robots, could be used in homecare. The focus group data is the basis for planning the pilots and tests.

The foundations of a policy for the use of social robots in care

Technology in Society, 2020

Should we deploy social robots in care settings? This question, asked from a policy standpoint, requires that we understand the potential benefits and downsides of deploying social robots in care situations. Potential benefits could include increased efficiency, increased welfare, physiological and psychological benefits, and experienced satisfaction. There are, however, important objections to the use of social robots in care. These include the possibility that relations with robots can potentially displace human contact, that these relations could be harmful, that robot care is undignified and disrespectful, and that social robots are deceptive. I propose a framework for evaluating all these arguments in terms of three aspects of care: structure, process, and outcome. I then highlight the main ethical considerations that have to be made in order to untangle the web of pros and cons of social robots in care as these pros and cons are related the trade-offs regarding quantity and quality of care, process and outcome, and objective and subjective outcomes.

Caregivers' use of robots and their effect on work environment -a scoping review

Journal of technology in human services, 2021

Despite the lively discussion on the pros and cons of using robots in health care, little is still known about how caregivers are affected when robots are introduced in their work environment. The present scoping review fills this research gap by mapping previous studies about the relation between robots in care and caregivers' working life. The paper is based on searches in four databases for peer-reviewed articles about robots in care settings, published 2000 to 2020. The 27 included papers were examined with the questions of 1) how robots are used by caregivers, and 2) how robots affect caregivers' work environment. The analysis shows that the use of robots can affect both the physical and the psychosocial work environment, in positive as well as in negative ways. Robots are used in care settings to reduce physical and mental demands of the caregivers, but they can, in fact, increase caregivers' workload. Thus, the review indicates that robots can improve the quality of work, but that they seldom work as a shortcut to increased efficiency or time effectiveness.

Exploring Human-Robot Interaction with the Elderly

Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Ageing societies and the associated pressure on the care systems are major drivers for new developments in socially assistive robotics. To understand better the real-world potential of robot-based assistance, we undertook a 10-week case study in a care home involving groups of residents, caregivers and managers as stakeholders. We identified both, enablers and barriers to the potential implementation of robot systems. The study employed the robot platform Pepper, which was deployed with a view to understanding better multi-domain interventions with a robot supporting physical activation, cognitive training and social facilitation. We employed the robot in a group setting in a care facility over the course of 10 weeks and 20 sessions, observing how stakeholders, including residents and caregivers, appropriated, adapted to, and perceived the robot. We also conducted interviews with 11 residents and caregivers. Our results indicate that the residents were positively engaged in the training sessions that were moderated by the robot. The study revealed that such humanoid robots can work in a care home but that there is a moderating person needed, that is in control of the robot.

Case Report: Implications of Doing Research on Socially Assistive Robots in Real Homes

International Journal of Social Robotics

The current paper addresses the implications of doing research on socially assistive robots in real homes. In contrast to laboratory studies, studies of robots in their intended natural environments can provide insights into people's experiences of robots, and if and how a robot becomes embedded and used in people's everyday life. However, moving robots out of the lab and into real life environments poses several challenges. Laboratory methods mainly focus on cause-and-effect relations between independent and dependent variables, while researchers who are conducting studies in real homes have much less control. In home trials, researchers need to decide what kind of data is obtainable and available. In real homes, researchers face unique challenges that require unique and pragmatic approaches. Any single study conducted in a real home is likely to have methodological limitations. Therefore, several different studies using different robots and methods are needed before the results can be converged in order to reach conclusions that are convincingly supported. This paper is an effort to provide such a report on a specific empirical case and converging findings from other studies. The goal is to provide an account of the research challenges and opportunities encountered when introducing a robot into its intended practice: the homes of older people. The aim is to give enough details for other

Embedding care robots into society and practice: Socio-technical considerations

Futures, 2020

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Exploring the perceptions of people with dementia about the social robot PARO in a hospital setting

Dementia, 2019

New technology, such as social robots, opens up new opportunities in hospital settings. PARO, a robotic pet seal, was designed to provide emotional and social support for older people with dementia. We applied video-ethnographic methods, including conversational interviews and obser- vations with video recording among 10 patient participants while they were using the robot. We also conducted semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups with nursing staff to gain contextual information. Patient and family partners were actively involved in the study as co- researchers. This study reports our findings on the perceptions of 10 patients with dementia about their experiences with PARO in a hospital setting. Thematic analysis yielded three substantive themes: (a) ‘it’s like a buddy’ – the robot helps people with dementia uphold a sense of self in the world, (b) ‘it’s a conversation piece’ – the baby seal facilitates social connection and (c) ‘it makes me happy’ – PARO transforms and humanizes the clinical setting. Our findings help provide a better understanding of the perspectives of patients with dementia on the use of social robots.

Impacts of robot implementation on care personnel and clients in elderly-care institutions

International Journal of Medical Informatics

Background: Digital technologies, including robots, are being increasingly used in elderly care. Their impact on users carries implications for successfully integrating technological innovations into care. This study aims to identify the impacts of care-robot implementation on elderly-care service stakeholders. Methods: Impacts of care-robot implementation on userscare personnel and elderly clientsare identified from the data collected during a 10-week field study of the implementation process of the care robot 'Zora' in municipal elderly care services in Finland. The data were obtained from semi-participatory observation (27 sessions) of the robot engaging in rehabilitation efforts in two care homes and a geriatric rehabilitation hospital, and focus-group interviews conducted with 40 care workers and clients. Results: Robot use in elderly care is associated with multiple types of impacts with positive, negative, and neutral dimensions. These include impacts on interaction and activity for clients, and impacts on the work atmosphere, meaningfulness of work content, and professional development for care personnel. Impacts on personnel were related to the need for orientation, problems of time usage, and overall attitudes toward novelty and renewing of care service. The robot's presence stimulated the clients into exercising and interacting. The care workers perceived the clients' well-being both as a motivation to learn how to use robots as well as a justification for negative views. Conclusions: Care-robots like Zora have the potential for multi-faceted rehabilitative functions and can become part of care service with careful systemic planning with a specific focus on orientation. Many of the identified impacts were related to how the robot fits into the service processes. Distinguishing between positive, negative, or neutral dimensions of different impacts is important.