Publication details
Promoting activities for older adults with disabilities by using a humanoid robot
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | The ageing of the population brings new challenges, many of which can be addressed by new and developing technologies. One of the issues is the role of robots and automatization play in levelling of decreasing productivity measures the ageing and therefore shrinking workforce is often feared to bring. The next aspect is represented by the expectations, that the robots will play an important role in the provision of the care for the growing numbers of older adults. Last, but not least, technologies have conquered the worlds of entertainment and education, a phenomenon that is cross-fertilised by the increasing value of both knowledge and leisure in our lives. The possibilities of using the robot to motivate older adults in community centers to become more active will be explored, with a focus on the range of activities, such as education and socialisation. The innovative approach draws attention to beyond-care, or rather before-care, utilisation of technologies for support of active ageing and better in-care user acceptance. Special attention is paid to the gendered usage of the technology in later life. The second part of the presentation will provide an overview of the available interdisciplinary research into the social, ethical and technological aspects of interactions between older people and social robots. The assistive robot technology is usually employed in five roles: affective therapy, cognitive training, social facilitator, companionship and physiological therapy. Mapping of the issue draws attention to the blind spots in the available literature, where, so far, the focus has been on the issue of care for the older adults rather than on the agentic social actor of the higher age. The call for new knowledge on overcoming technological exclusion and the lack of technological socialisation, which are substantial barriers to the acceptance of technology-supported care, is part of our closing discussion. The presentation is based on the project “The use of the humanoid robot in promoting active ageing in older men and women 2019 - 2021” (TA ČR grant No. TL02000362). |
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