Examining Social Robot Acceptability for Older Adults and People with Dementia

Social robots that aim to support the independence and wellbeing of older adults and people with dementia are being introduced into dementia care settings. However, the acceptability of robots varies greatly between people and the rate that robots are deployed into practice is currently low. This chapter defines robot acceptability and provides an overview of theoretical technology acceptance models. It reviews the empirical literature and identifies the individual and contextual factors that impact acceptability in relation to the needs of older adults and people with dementia, focusing on what potential robot users need to motivate them to accept robots into their everyday lives. Then the literature is discussed in the light of current discourses in gerontology, recommending what is needed to increase the acceptability of robots. The capacity of robots, to communicate in a human-like way needs to increase and robots need to be designed with in-depth end-user collaboration, to be person-centred and deployed in ways that enhance the strengths of people with dementia. Guidance for good practice in participatory design is provided. Longitudinal research that uses triangulated data from multiple sources. is recommended to identify the needs of individuals, significant others, and wider contextual factors

Views of nurses and other health and social care workers on the use of assistive humanoid and animal-like robots in health and social care: a scoping review

Background: Robots are introduced and used in many health and social care settings, from the operating room to the care of older adults with dementia. Objectives: The goal of this scoping review is to provide an overview of the existing evidence related to the views of nursing staff and other health and social care workers about the use of assistive humanoid and animal-like robots in the health and social care sector. Methods: Using the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines we searched MEDLINE, PUBMED, CINHAL, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore digital library. Nineteen (19) articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were retrieved, reviewed and summarised. Results: Health and social care workers reported mixed views regarding the use of robots in a healthcare setting. They mainly focused on the impact that robots could have on their patients and not to themselves. They considered an array of tasks that robots could perform; they addressed the issue of patient safety and raised concerns about privacy. Conclusions: A limited number of studies have explored the views of health and social care workers about the use of robots. Considering the fast pace with which technology is advancing in the care field, and with professionals in health and social care increasingly being asked to use such technologies, it is critical to conduct more research in this area Impact Statement: Robots will increasingly have a role to play in nursing, health and social care. The potential impact will be challenging for the healthcare workforce. It is therefore important for nurses and other health and social care workers to engage in discussion regarding the contribution of robots and their impact not only on nursing care but also on future roles of health and social care workers

Analysis of Research in Adoption of Assistive Technologies for Aged Care

The main objective of this study is to provide detailed analysis on the research conducted in the area of adoption for assistive technologies in aged care. The article analyses the studies and concludes with avenues, guidelines and gaps for research in this area. This study has conducted a systematic search on eight popular academic databases and identified relevant papers published. The paper identifies potential technologies that have been utilised to address seniors’ daily life difficulties in three areas: independent living, social isolation, dementia and medication taking. The article presents the theoretical lenses used for studying the adoption of these technologies in aged care. In addition to that, the systematic review has come up with interesting demographics on research approaches, and fields of publication for the research in this area. The paper outlines that the Australian research in adoption of assistive technologies for aged care has been over focused on healthcare domain and has largely ignored information system outlets. The possible reasons and potential directions for this issue have been discussed

Birds of a Feather Flock Together: But do Humans and Robots? A Meta-Analysis of Human and Robot Personality Matching

Collaborative work between humans and robots holds great potential but, such potential is diminished should humans fail to accept robots as collaborators. One solution is to design robots to have a similar personality to their human collaborators. Typically, this is done by matching the human’s and robot’s personality using one or more of the Big Five Personality (BFI) traits. The results of this matching, however, have been mixed. This makes it difficult to know whether personality similarity promotes robot acceptance. To address this shortcoming, we conducted a systematic quantitative meta-analysis of 13 studies. Overall, the results support the assertion that matching personalities between humans and robots promotes robot acceptance.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/168397/1/Esterwood et al. 2021.pdfDescription of Esterwood et al. 2021.pdf : PreprintSEL

Views of nurses and other health and social care workers on the use of assistive humanoid and animal-like robots in health and social care: a scoping review

Background: Robots are introduced and used in many health and social care settings, from the operating room to the care of older adults with dementia. Objectives: The goal of this scoping review is to provide an overview of the existing evidence related to the views of nursing staff and other health and social care workers about the use of assistive humanoid and animal-like robots in the health and social care sector. Methods: Using the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines we searched MEDLINE, PUBMED, CINHAL, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and IEEE Xplore digital library. Nineteen (19) articles met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and were retrieved, reviewed and summarised. Results: Health and social care workers reported mixed views regarding the use of robots in a healthcare setting. They mainly focused on the impact that robots could have on their patients and not to themselves. They considered an array of tasks that robots could perform; they addressed the issue of patient safety and raised concerns about privacy. Conclusions: A limited number of studies have explored the views of health and social care workers about the use of robots. Considering the fast pace with which technology is advancing in the care field, and with professionals in health and social care increasingly being asked to use such technologies, it is critical to conduct more research in this area Impact Statement: Robots will increasingly have a role to play in nursing, health and social care. The potential impact will be challenging for the healthcare workforce. It is therefore important for nurses and other health and social care workers to engage in discussion regarding the contribution of robots and their impact not only on nursing care but also on future roles of health and social care workers

A bellboy robot: Study of the effects of robot behaviour on user engagement and comfort

Producción CientíficaThis paper provides the results of various trial experiments in a hotel environment carried out using Sacarino, an interactive bellboy robot. We analysed which aspects of the robot design and behaviour are relevant in terms of user engagement and comfort when interacting with our social robot. The experiments carried out focused on the influence over proxemics, duration and effectiveness of the interaction taking into account three dichotomous factors related with the robot design and behaviour: robot embodiment (with/without robotic body), status of the robot (awake/asleep) and who starts communication (robot/user). Results show that users tend to maintain a personal distance when interacting with an embodied robot and that embodiment engages users in maintaining longer interactions. On the other hand, including a greeting model in a robot is useful in terms of engaging users to maintain longer interactions, and that an active-looking robot is more attractive to the participants, producing longer interactions than in the case of a passive-looking robot.Junta de Castilla y León (Programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación-Ref. VA036U14)Junta de Castilla y León (Programa de apoyo a proyectos de investigación-Ref. VA013A12-2)Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad (Grant DPI2014-56500-R

Socially assistive robots adoption

Mestrado em Gestão de Sistemas de InformaçãoCom o rápido envelhecimento da população mundial verifica-se um aumento do número de pessoas a requerer cuidados da parte de outrem. Contudo, o fenómeno mencionado traz, também, uma redução do número de pessoas disponíveis para prestar tais cuidados. Como tal, as sociedades são cada vez mais forçadas a lidar com esta discrepância que deve ser colmatada de modo a permitir aos idosos envelhecer com a dignidade que estes merecem. Uma forma de o fazer pode ser encontrada no campo das tecnologias de apoio, nomeadamente na figura dos Socially Assistive Robots (SAR): robots que apoiam os humanos através da interação social. O objetivo do presente estudo é investigar a propensão da população idosa portuguesa para a adoção destes robots. Para esse fim, primeiro, foi levada a cabo uma revisão da literatura onde foi recolhida informação relativa às formas em que os SAR podem apoiar os idosos, fatores que afetam a adoção destes robots e as principais preocupações que se afiguram num processo de adoção. De seguida, um estudo quantitativo baseado na aplicação de questionários à população portuguesa com 65 ou mais anos foi conduzido. De modo a estudar os fatores que influenciam a adoção dos robots, uma adaptação da segunda versão do modelo Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology foi criada e operacionalizada. Os resultados do estudo, não sendo tão abrangentes como inicialmente desejado, servem para complementar a base de conhecimento a ser constituída em torno deste tópico, iluminando e informando o trabalho daqueles que desenvolvem SAR.With the world population ageing rapidly comes an increase in the number of people requiring care from others. However, this phenomenon also brings a decrease in the number of people capable of providing such care. Societies are then increasingly left with a gap which must be bridged for the elderly to be afforded to age with the dignity which they deserve. One way to close said gap can be found in the field of assistive technologies, namely in the form of Socially Assistive Robots (SAR): robots designed to aid humans through social interaction. The aim of the current study is to investigate the propension of elderly Portuguese people for SAR adoption. Thus, firstly a review of literature focused on the ways in which SAR can aid the elderly, robot acceptance factors and common adoption concerns was put together. Secondly, a quantitative study based on the application of questionnaires to the Portuguese population aged 65 and over was conducted. In order to study the robot acceptance factors, an adaptation of the second version of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology was created and deployed. The study results, while not as encompassing as initially desired, serve to complement the knowledge base being currently built around this topic, illuminating and informing the work of individuals focused on designing Socially Assistive Robots.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Minäpystyvyys ja avustavan robotiikan hyväksyntä vanhushoivatyössä

Suomi on väestörakenteen voimakkaan vanhenemisen myötä tilanteessa, jossa se tarvitsee uusia innovatiivisia ratkaisuja hyvinvointipalveluiden tarjoamisen takaamiseksi tulevaisuudessa. Yhden osaratkaisun ikääntyvän väestön hoivapalveluiden turvaamiseksi on uskottu löytyvän älykkäistä palveluroboteista. Hoitajien näkökulman tarkastelu teknologian hyväksynnässä on tärkeää, koska he työskentelevät lähimpänä ikääntyneitä ja vaikuttavat siten kyvykkyydellään sekä toiminnallaan suoraan hoivan laatuun. Minäpystyvyys on yksi ihmisen toimintaa keskeisesti ohjaava tekijä: se vaikuttaa suoraan käyttäytymiseen ja esimerkiksi siihen, kuinka paljon ja kuinka pitkään ihminen ponnistelee suoriutuakseen tietystä tilanteesta tai tehtävästä. Tässä sosiaalipsykologian pro gradu -tutkielmassa selvitettiin, millainen yhteys on lähihoitajien kokemalla robotin käyttöön liittyvällä minäpystyvyydellä ja avustavan robotiikan hyväksynnällä vanhushoivatyössä. Tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin robotin käyttöön liittyvän minäpystyvyyden ja avustavan robotiikan hyväksynnän välistä yhteyttä ja siinä tapahtuvia muutoksia, kun muita tutkimusasetelmaan valittuja taustamuuttujia otettiin huomioon tarkastelussa. Lisäksi minäpystyvyyden yhteyttä uuden teknologian hyväksyntään selvitettiin laajemmassa mielessä sisällyttämällä analyysiin kaksi muuttujaa, jotka mittaavat minäpystyvyyttä eri tasoilla. Asetelman avulla selvitettiin, miten minäpystyvyyden eri tasojen selitysvoimat eroavat toisistaan. Tutkielmassa käytettiin ROSE – Robotit ja hyvinvointipalvelujen tulevaisuus –tutkimushankkeessa kerättyä kyselyaineistoa (Turja 2016). Tarkastelu rajattiin vanhushoivapalveluissa työskenteleviin lähihoitajiin, jotka vastasivat kaikkiin tutkielman hierarkkisesti toteutetun lineaarisen regressiomallin kysymyksiin (n=1484). Analyysissä käytettiin aihepiirin aiemmassa tutkimuksessa käytettyä yleistä minäpystyvyysmittaria, ja testattiin ROSE-hankkeen yhteydessä kehitettyä robotin käyttöön liittyvää minäpystyvyysmittaria. Tulosten mukaan robotin käyttöön liittyvä minäpystyvyys on yleistä minäpystyvyyttä voimakkaampi avustavan robotiikan hyväksynnän selittäjä. Robotin käyttöön liittyvän minäpystyvyyden ja avustavan robotiikan hyväksynnän välinen yhteys on varsin voimakas kaikissa regressiomallin eri vaiheessa. Yleisellä minäpystyvyydellä ja avustavan robotiikan hyväksynnällä havaittiin matalan negatiivinen yhteys. Tulos on aiemman kirjallisuuden valossa yllättävä ja viittaa siihen, että korkea yleinen minäpystyvyys vähentää avustavan robotiikan hyväksyntää. Lisäksi havaittiin, että yleinen minäpystyvyys ei ennusta robotin käyttöön liittyvää minäpystyvyyttä. Tulokset osoittavat, että lähihoitajien minäpystyvyyttä on mielekästä tutkia tehtäväspesifisti, kun tarkastellaan uusien teknologioiden käyttöönottoa. Tehtäväspesifin minäpystyvyyden ymmärtäminen on tärkeää, kun halutaan auttaa ja kannustaa lähihoitajia uusien teknologioiden käyttöönotossa