The Application of Social Robots in Healthcare: Enhancing Care Quality and Addressing Ethics Challenges
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Therefore, with the increase of the aging population especially in the elderly care and disability assistance, demand of the healthcare solution has increased globally. Fitted with more sophisticated features including capability for emotion detection, speech interaction and continuous health monitoring, social robots have been proven to lighten the load of caregivers and to improve the quality of patient care. In addition to creating company and emotional support, these robots also aid in everyday tasks, helping patients remain autonomous. In this paper, we examine how social robots can be used in healthcare, evaluating their technical capabilities, ethical implications and their use in the real world. Social robots show promise — providing interactive ways to engage patients and providing enhanced operational efficiency, but also present privacy related and cultural acceptance related challenges and ethical concerns. The emotion responsive robots described here need to be expanded in future research and development to become more responsive and provide privacy safeguards for broader adoption and socially acceptability.
Author: Jinhui Xie
Institution: Newcastle University
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4405333371