Human-Robot Interaction with older adults suffering from dementia: Sociocultural and gender differences and ethical and professional implications in the use of companion robots (MyRobot)

The sociocultural differences on Huma-Robots Interaction (HRI) have still been little studied so as to be able to understand better drivers or barriers when using companion robots. Research on companion robots has been mostly carried out from a psychological point of view, for instance, highlighting emotions and the attachment with pets format robots or HRI from the technology itself. However, little has been said about cultural and social implications in HRI.

Companion robots can be a tool, not only in helping to overcome loneliness and isolation while ageing, but also in interacting with peer groups and professionals. However, their implementation has ethical implications and impacts on the relationships established between the peer group, family members, and in the way interventions of professionals are carried out. The aim of this project is to investigate the aforementioned socio-cultural factors and implications, analysing HRI from a holistic point of view. To this end, ethnographic data will be collected in more than five nursing homes for older adults and/or Day Care Centres in four different Autonomous Communities (Catalonia, Valencia, Castile and Leon and Extremadura).

MyRobot therefore focuses on the cultural and social factors that promote or hinder the implementation of companion robots, with elderly people with dementia as the central target group; at the same time, all agents involved in their care (formal carers, informal carers and other health professionals) will be included in the analysis, applying the quadruple helix for the selection of the structural sample. The methodology includes participant observation of the HRI, interviews and semi-structured questionnaires. The project will focus on the relationships between all the groups of interest that revolve around robots with a phenomenological and anthropological approach. The NUKA robot (the name by which the PARO robot is known in Spain) will be used.

The results will contribute to a better understanding of HRI from a sociocultural perspective and taking into account the ethical implications of the use of companion robots among older adults with dementia, as well as the possible cultural prejudices, ageist and gender stereotypes that their use may entail. All this with the aim of improving the health and well-being of older adults and reducing the feeling of loneliness or isolation they may suffer.