The Covid-19 pandemic has shed fresh light on the intense challenges facing the elderly care sector, which suffers from chronic shortages of financial and human resources.  As such, a growing response to our aging society sees service providers turn to technology to assist.  New research from North Carolina State University examines the pros and cons of these technologies.

The researchers focus on not only the efficacy of such technologies in preserving the autonomy of elderly people but also the various ethical concerns surrounding the application of so-called “carebots”.

“A lot of the work evaluating carebots tends to take an extremely optimistic or pessimistic stance; our goal with this paper is to avoid this sort of utopian or dystopian thinking,” the researchers explain. “Instead, we look at what is actually possible, and how ethical considerations may come into play.”

What are carebots?

While the name suggests a robot of some kind, in this paper, carebots actually cover a much wider range of technologies, from mobile health apps to provide medicine reminders to physical robot carers.

“The most advanced carebots allow patients to engage in limited social interactions with the technology, which gives rise to one of the most persistent ethical objections to the use of carebots,” the researchers say.

The researchers argue that among patients with various neurological conditions, such as dementia, there is a concern that they might believe that carebots are actually people.  This translates into a wider fear that such devices may ultimately result in the removal of humans from elderly care facilities entirely.

“We are in agreement that carebots should not take the place of human workers,” the researchers explain. “However, we feel there can be substantial benefits for patients if the use of a carebot allows them to retain their autonomy for a longer period of time.”

A human touch

It’s widely accepted that removing human contact from people with dementia is hugely damaging, as is depriving them of familiar surroundings, which has been shown to accelerate cognitive decline.  Carebots can certainly help retain independence, but it’s important that human contact is not substituted for the technology.

“Ultimately, we argue that people should be able to choose how they want to be cared for,” the researchers explain. “Yes, bad things can still happen when a person receives care from a robot. But bad things can also happen when patients are under human care – elder abuse is a huge problem.”

The use of technology such as carebots is inevitable as the demand for elderly care services is significantly outstripping the supply of people willing and able to provide it.  Technology can help to plug this gap effectively if it’s used in the right way.