Elderly Prefer Robot Carers, Study Finds (DENMARK)

13 SEPTEMBER 2011


As the use of robots in eldercare has exploded in recent years, a new study shows Danes are positive about technologies that could help the elderly live a more independent life.


Devices such as robotic vacuum cleaners and robot companions for Alzheimer’s sufferers are already commonplace. And the study, published by KL, the national association of local governments, found that a majority of the respondents would prefer to receive technological, rather than human assistance when going to the bathroom or eating.


The latest invention, bathing robot, is currently on trial at the  Præsthøjgården nursing home in the Jutland town of Horsens. It is hoped that the Japanese-produced machine can allow some elderly to live without the assistance of caregivers.


The results surprised Bent Greve, a welfare researcher at Roskilde University. “But it illustrates that more people want to be able to cope on their own if they can do so on reasonable terms,” he said.


Seven out of 10 people taking the survey agreed that assistive technology makes it possible to have more control over their own lives, and 55 percent believe it is more dignified to be helped by a machine than another human.


Mayor Anny Winther of the Jutland town of Rebild, and the chairman of KL’s Social and Health Committee, pointed to two benefits.


“Firstly, it can help us allow the elderly to live independently as long as possible. And secondly, with the current economic crisis and future labour shortages, we will have to do things differently in the years to come,” she said.


Although DaneAge, which works for the interests and well-being of the nation’s seniors, was not opposed to letting robots replace human hands to do practical things, it called for clear ethical guidelines.


Olav Felbo, a DaneAge spokesperson, suggested that robots only be used for tasks that didn't involve personal contact, and said that the elderly should not be forced to accept new and foreign technology if they were uneasy about it.


He also warned that the study’s result might be misleading. Its results came from an online poll and for that reason might have attracted more tech-savvy seniors.



SOURCE:     The Copenhagen Post Online
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