Elizabeth Broadbent

Acceptance of Healthcare Robots for the Older Population: Review and Future Directions

The rapidly ageing population is placing increasing strain on healthcare services. Robots have been proposed as a way to assist people to stay healthy and safe in their own homes. However, despite the need for such assistive devices and the success of some healthcare robots, other robots have had a poor response. This article reviews the literature about human responses to healthcare robots and summarises the variables that have been found to influence responses. It may be possible to increase acceptance of healthcare robots by properly assessing the needs of the human user and then matching the robot’s role, appearance and behaviour to these needs. Because robots have limitations in their abilities, another way to increase acceptance may be to modify the expectations of users to better match robots’ abilities. More research needs to investigate potential users’ needs and expectations in specific situations and whether interventions to increase the match between robot and human can increase acceptance.

Attitudes towards health-care robots in a retirement village.

Aim:u2002 This study investigated the attitudes and preferences of staff, residents and relatives of residents in a retirement village towards a health‐care robot.

The Role of Healthcare Robots for Older People at Home: A Review

This review aimed to identify the areas of need that older people have, and the available solutions. In particular, the robotic solutions are explored and critiqued and areas for future development identified. The literature was reviewed for factors that influence admission to nursing home care, and for technological solutions to these factors. The main issues facing older people are physical decline, cognitive decline, health management, and psychosocial issues. Robots exist that may meet some of the identified issues but gaps where robots could be developed include delivering interventions to prevent physical decline occurring and robots with multiple functions, including a range of cognitive stimuli and health education. To reduce barriers to acceptance, robots designed to provide physical and healthcare assistance should have a serious appearance. On the other hand animal-like robots can address psychosocial issues and function like pets. While smart phones and computers can offer some solutions, robots may promote adherence due to a social presence. Robots are being developed to address areas of need in older people, including physical, cognitive, medical and psychosocial issues. However more focus could be placed on developing preventative interventions, multifunctional robots, greater educational content and motivational aspects of appearance and interaction style.

Age and gender factors in user acceptance of healthcare robots

Human-robot interaction (HRI) and user acceptance become critical when service robots start to provide a variety of assistance to users on a personal level. Limited research to date has studied the influence of users attributes (such as age and gender) on the acceptance of service robots and the implications for HRI design. This paper describes the development of a social interactive healthcare robot named Charles, capable of measuring blood pressure. Using blood pressure monitoring as the service scenario, a user study was conducted to investigate the differences between two age groups (40 to 65 years and over 65 years) in attitudes and reactions before and after their interactions with Charles. The results showed few differences between the two age groups. A significant gender effect was found, with males having a more positive attitude toward robots in healthcare than females. This study reveals the importance of considering gender issues in the design of healthcare robots for older people. Overall, the performance of the robot was rated high, however the participants expressed desires to have more interactiveness and a better voice from the robot. According to our sample, age need not be a barrier to users acceptance of healthcare robots.

Attitudes and Reactions to a Healthcare Robot

OBJECTIVEnThe use of robots in healthcare is a new concept. The publics perception and acceptance is not well understood. The objective was to investigate the perceptions and emotions toward the utilization of healthcare robots among individuals over 40 years of age, investigate factors contributing to acceptance, and evaluate differences in blood pressure checks taken by a robot and a medical student.nnnMATERIALS AND METHODSnFifty-seven (n = 57) adults aged over 40 years and recruited from local general practitioner or gerontology group lists participated in two cross-sectional studies. The first was an open-ended questionnaire assessing perceptions of robots. In the second study, participants had their blood pressure taken by a medical student and by a robot. Patient comfort with each encounter, perceived accuracy of each measurement, and the quality of the patient interaction were studied in each case. Readings were compared by independent t-tests and regression analyses were conducted to predict quality ratings.nnnRESULTSnParticipants perceptions about robots were influenced by their prior exposure to robots in literature or entertainment media. Participants saw many benefits and applications for healthcare robots, including simple medical procedures and physical assistance, but had some concerns about reliability, safety, and the loss of personal care. Blood pressure readings did not differ between the medical student and robot, but participants felt more comfortable with the medical student and saw the robot as less accurate. Although age and sex were not significant predictors, individuals who held more positive initial attitudes and emotions toward robots rated the robot interaction more favorably.nnnCONCLUSIONSnMany people see robots as having benefits and applications in healthcare but some have concerns. Individual attitudes and emotions regarding robots in general are likely to influence future acceptance of their introduction into healthcare processes.

Deployment of a service robot to help older people

This paper presents the first version of a mobile service robot designed for older people. Six service application modules were developed with the key objective being successful interaction between the robot and the older people. A series of trials were conducted in an independent living facility at a retirement village, with the participation of 32 residents and 21 staff. In this paper, challenges of deploying the robot and lessons learned are discussed. Results show that the robot could successfully interact with people and gain their acceptance.

Improved robot attitudes and emotions at a retirement home after meeting a robot

This study investigated whether attitudes and emotions towards robots predicted acceptance of a healthcare robot in a retirement village population. Residents (n = 32) and staff (n = 21) at a retirement village interacted with a robot for approximately 30 minutes. Prior to meeting the robot, participants had their heart rate and blood pressure measured. The robot greeted the participants, assisted them in taking their vital signs, performed a hydration reminder, told a joke, played a music video, and asked some questions about falls and medication management. Participants were given two questionnaires; one before and one after interacting with the robot. Measures included in both questionnaires were the Robot Attitude Scale (RAS) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). After using the robot, participants rated the overall quality of the robot interaction. Both residents and staff reported more favourable attitudes (p < .05) and decreases in negative affect (p < .05) towards the robot after meeting it, compared with before meeting it. Pre-interaction emotions and robot attitudes, combined with post-interaction changes in emotions and robot attitudes, were highly predictive of participants robot evaluations (R = .88, p < .05). The results suggest both pre-interaction emotions and attitudes towards robots, as well as experience with the robot, are important areas to monitor and address in influencing acceptance of healthcare robots in retirement village residents and staff. The results support an active cognition model that incorporates a feedback loop based on re-evaluation after experience.

Retirement home staff and residents' preferences for healthcare robots

As the proportion of people in the older age groups grows, demands on care providers increase. The ability of robotic technology to meet these demands is limited by a lack of acceptance by older people. This study investigates which tasks staff and residents in a retirement village would like a robot to assist with, as well as their attitudes towards robots and preferences for their appearance. Findings show that residents are more positive about robots than staff, and participants prefer a silver robot of 1.25m height, with wheels and a screen on the body. Residents would most like the robot to assist with detecting falls, turning on and off appliances, lifting, cleaning, medication reminding, making phone calls and monitoring location. Making robots that fit these preferences may increase the acceptance of robotic assistants by older people.

People respond better to robots than computer tablets delivering healthcare instructions

We compared responses to a robot with responses to a computer in a health context.Participants spoke and smiled more towards the robot than the tablet.Participants were more likely to follow relaxation instructions when given by the robot.The robot was rated more favourably and more likeable than the tablet.Robots can offer advantages over a computer tablet in healthcare. The population of the world is ageing, particularly in developed countries. As the populations age increases, the healthcare workforce is becoming progressively unable to meet the high healthcare demands of the elderly population. Increasingly, technology is being used to solve this dilemma. Using a sample from the general population (n=65), this study examined how people interacted with either a robot or a tablet computer delivering healthcare instructions. During this interaction, the robot/tablet asked them several health-related questions, and to perform limited physical tests and a relaxation exercise. Results showed participants had more positive interactions with the robot compared to the computer tablet, including increased speech and positive emotion (smiling), and participation in the relaxation exercise. Further results showed the robot was rated higher on scales of trust, enjoyment, and desire for future interaction. This suggests that robots may offer benefits over and above computer tablets in delivering healthcare. These results further demonstrate that the physical nature of technology is important in determining responses to healthcare interactions.

Mental Schemas of Robots as More Human-Like Are Associated with Higher Blood Pressure and Negative Emotions in a Human-Robot Interaction

Robots are often portrayed in the media as human-like, yet research suggests that people prefer to interact with robots that are not human-like. This study aimed to investigate whether people’s mental schemas about robots’ humanness were associated with their reactions to a robot. It was hypothesised that people who thought of robots as more human-like would be more anxious when subsequently interacting with a robot. Fifty-seven participants aged over 40 years were asked to draw their idea of a healthcare robot using standardised instructions before seeing the real robot. They reported their emotions at baseline and a medical student measured their blood pressure. The drawings were categorised as human-like or box-like by the researchers and drawing size was measured. Participants were then introduced to a robot that measured their blood pressure, and they reported their emotions during the interaction. Participants who had drawn a human-like robot had significantly greater increases in blood pressure readings and negative emotions from baseline in reaction to the robot compared to those who had drawn a box-like robot. Larger drawings of healthcare robots predicted higher ratings of negative emotions during the robot interaction. This study suggests that people who have mental schemas that robots are human-like experience heightened wariness in interactions with robots. Larger drawings of robots may indicate greater anxiety towards them. Assessing mental schemas of robot human-likeness is an important consideration for the acceptance of social robots. Standardised drawing instructions and scoring are a useful method to assess cognitions and emotions towards robots.