Social problems, technological solutions? German nursing care experts' perspectives, evaluations, and imaginaries of care robotics research.

There are many different types of robots that are used in different fields to make our lives easier. Currently, a popular assistive robot used in health care includes the “support robot” that helps persons? mobility and the “rehabilitation robot” that facilitates the performance of range-of-motion exercises. A robot performs tasks with mechanical precision on its own, or with guidance. Many fundamental questions exist that challenges the development of assistive health care robots, such as (1) What is a caring robot? (2) Should caring robots be humanoids or not? (3) What necessary functions are required for these caring robots so that it can provide quality nursing care? (4) What level of intelligence should robots have so that it can function effectively as a responsive `assistant' to patients? (5) What levels of decision-making should the robot have to be a dependable partner solving patients' care problems? Based on nursing caring theories, the authors of this paper propose a set of necessary functions that a caring robot should have, so that these questions can be answered. A caring robot has functional features like that of a human nurse. Developing humanoid robots will enhance the necessary functions of a caring robot particularly in task for example, taking vital signs and delivery of meals and medications. The most important ability of the caring robot is to carry-out basic nursing care functions as expected by the patients. This paper aims to apply nursing caring theory as a framework for the patient human-robot interaction.

The Emergence of Care Robotics – A Publication and Patent Analysis

Background: As Japan undergoes population aging, nursing care workers play an important role in supporting older adults in the community, which has been particularly critical during COVID-19 pandemic. However, the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among nursing care workers regarding COVID-19 have not been fully elucidated. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in June 2020 among 481 nursing care workers in the nursing care facilities in Aichi, Japan. We assessed COVID-19-related KAP scores of nursing care workers, and compared them by age, sex, and years of experience. Results: A total of 481 nursing care workers responded to the survey. Out of a maximum of 10 points, the mean (standard deviations) knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 6.86 (1.45), 7.11 (1.42), and 7.40 (1.89), respectively. Comparisons between the KAP scores revealed significantly higher knowledge scores among older workers (p < 0.001) and significantly higher knowledge scores (p = 0.002) and practice scores (p = 0.033) among workers with more than 20 years of working experience. Conclusions: The findings revealed that older age and a longer duration of experience were associated with higher COVID-19-related knowledge and practice scores. To better support older adults, it is essential to improve the education system for care workers and to provide environments for delivering necessary information rapidly.

Care robots are often portrayed as an exciting new technology for improving care practices. Whether these robots will be accepted and integrated into care work or not, is likely to be affected by the assumptions, expectations and understandings held by potential end users, such as frontline staff and the people that are cared for. This paper describes how the conceptual framework of technological frames was used to identify the nature of care robots, care robots in use and care robot strategy as shared group level assumptions, expectations and understandings of care robots among care staff and potential care receivers. Focus groups were conducted with 94 participants. These groups consisted of line managers, frontline care staff, older people and students training to become carers. The technological frame of the nature of care robots revealed two complementary components: care robots as a threat to the quality of care, and care robots as substitute for humans and human care, held together by imaginaries of care robots. The technological frame of care robots in use revealed aspects of prospective end-users’ uncertainty of their ability to handle care robots, and their own perceived lack of competence and knowledge about care robots. In addition, the following potential criteria for successful use of care robots were identified: adequate training, incentives for usage (needs and motives), usability, accessibility and finances. The technological frame of care robot strategy was revealed as believed cost savings and staff reduction. The novelty of the results, and their relevance for science and practice, is derived from the theoretical framework which indicates that adoption of care robots will be dependent on how well societies succeed in collectively shaping congruent technological frames among different stakeholders and aligning technological development accordingly.

This issue of <i>JAN</i>

Background: Service robots may offer an innovative assistive solution to improve the quality of life of frail elderly people, by assisting them in specific situations identified as relevant to maintain independence. Objective: This paper describes the results of a qualitative and quantitative research based on a user-centered methodology carried out within the EU-funded project Multi-Role Shadow Robotic System for Independent Living (SRS), aiming to generate user requirements and realistic usage scenarios maximizing the alignment with users' needs, perceptions, feelings and rights. Methods: A qualitative and quantitative research - based on focus groups (59 participants) and questionnaires (129 respondents) - was carried out in three countries: Italy, Spain and Germany. The survey involved prospective end-users (elderly people and family members who care for them), caregivers, and geriatric experts. Results: Results show that despite elderly people encounter difficulties in many activities of daily life, a semi-autonomous remotely-controlled and self-learning service robot has been judged an interesting solution only in some circumstances. Moni- toring and managing emergency situations, helping with reaching, fetching and carrying objects that are too heavy or positioned in unreachable places: these are tasks for which robotic support has been widely accepted, while tasks involving direct physical contact between the person and the robot are not appreciated instead. Relatives of the elderly could act as remote operators; however, family psychological burden and time restrictions should be considered too. Conclusions: A tele-operated robotic system may be of help for frailelderly people. In certain cases this solution may be effective only in conjunction with a 24-hour professional Service Centre able to manage tele-operation when relatives are not available. This survey adds further tokens of knowledge to previous literature studies on this subject; it compares the potential users' and the professionals' views; it helps identifying potentially successful applications of tele-operated robots in the care of elderly people living at home. The results obtained by the present study, generated specific requirements and the first versions of concrete usage scenarios, enabling designers and technologists to start with a first development phase of the SRS concept.

Although Information and Communication Technology (ICT) care robots are being used to address the shortage of human resources in nursing care in Japan, there are few studies on the application and disadvantages of robotics in caring for older persons. The authors surveyed seven students taking a nursing care course based on a self-administered questionnaire after they experienced various ICT nursing care robots in the education program. The responses were coded and analyzed qualitatively to consider the advantages and disadvantages of using robots in nursing care and the roles of nursing care workers. While nursing care robots have been evaluated for their contributions to caring for older persons, they also have disadvantages, such as high cost, discomfort, and risk of injury. Education programs for welfare students should include active experience with robots and a deep understanding of their advantages and disadvantages in caring for older people. Further collaboration between development companies, training schools, and care sites is essential to help educators and students get used to nursing care robots soon, refer to their experience in testing these robots, and simultaneously study potential disadvantages and discomforts of nursing care robots.

The population of Korea is aging rapidly, and this has led to a care burden for caregivers. Without adequate caregivers to address the increased burden, people with significant disabilities and older adults with disabilities who have greatly reduced mobility are at risk. The aim of this study was to determine suitable types of care robots for care applications in Korea and formulate a strategy for a future care robot R&D plan through a user participation study. We categorized nine types of care robots that are suitable for the care needs in Korea. By adopting a mixed research methodology involving user participation, we conducted discussions with caregivers, care receivers, and other stakeholders under a public-private-people partnership model. We also identified five primary strategies for care robot R&D: (1) intensive investment to match the needs of people with very severe disabilities to care robot technologies, particularly for transfer, repositioning, toileting, and feeding; (2) translational research and technology development; (3) realization of smart-care through fourth industrial revolution (i.e., digital) technologies; (4) user-centered research with stakeholders; and (5) building of a care robot ecosystem. The formulated plan would be shared with other developers and clinical experts to drive development of suitable care robots.

The increasing number of unfair claims in long-term care facilities has emerged as a risk factor for threatening the finances of the Korean national health insurance and increasing medical expenses, considering the imminent danger to super-aged society, since the implementation of the Long-term Care Insurance Act for the Elderly. Therefore, we aim to provide alternatives for unfair claim prevention and recidivism. The court's precedents and text-mining analysis were used to identify issues and factors in unfair claims to meet our research goals. Ninety-one cases (i.e., eighty-five elderly care facilities and six elderly care communal homes) were collected from January 1, 2013, to December 31, 2020. Our results revealed that fourty-four were fined, seventy-two received probation, and eighteen were sentenced to imprisonment, of the first verdicts by trial courts for senior medical welfare facilities. Among the defendants (n = 146), ninety-nine were top managers; thirteen were care workers; and five were social workers. The indictments consisted of seven violations, and of three most representative contents were violations of the Long-Term Care Insurance Act for the Elderly, of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud), fraud, violations of the Elderly Welfare Act, business embezzlement and forgery of private documents. In the first trial, TF-IDF analysis indicated four keywords, 'regulations and announcements,' 'working hours,' 'additions,' 'competition,' and mandatory personnel, such as physical therapists, social workers, and nursing assistants. In the second trial, 'field investigation,' 'sanitation,' and 'resident' were the main words. Topic Modeling of the first trial showed that 'nursing care workers &amp; sanitation center,' 'nursing care staff assignment standards,' 'social worker &amp; physical therapist,' 'notifications and laws,' 'working hours &amp; exploitation,' 'defendants &amp; victim.' In the second trial, 'accused &amp; supreme unjust (heavy),' 'placement criteria &amp; deception (acts),' 'long-term care benefit &amp; breach of working hours,' 'victim's claim &amp; crime of fraud,' 'false service,' 'staff assignment standards &amp; deceiving (acting),' and 'defendant's working rules &amp; field investigation.' Thus, we explored causes and issues with unfair claims. Finally, we proposed several preventative solutions: ①. change in the perception of operators and works of long-term care institutions, ②. transparent management, ③. a thorough understanding of relevant regulations, such as laws and public announcements, and prevention of errors in interpretation, and lastly ④. active countermeasures focused on improving unfair claims instead of punishment.

As a type of welfare technology, care robotics is now widely seen as a potential aide to rehabilitation, increasing independence and enhancing the wellbeing of people with disabilities and older adults. Research into and development of care robots have both been vigorously promoted in North America, Europe and Asia, and the competition for technological advancement in robotics is becoming fierce. AI ethics and policy guidelines are being established. However, there are still differences in attitudes and perceptions, as well as national policies regarding this type of welfare technology. Moreover, despite the anticipated usefulness, it is believed that progress has been slow in the diffusion of care robots. In order to explore how public discourses support technological innovation, such as care robots, while preparing society for potential risks and impact, we sought to ascertain whether public discourse on care robots varies from region to region. For example, what are the hopes and promises associated with care robots and what are the concerns? To address these questions, this article explored how care robots have been portrayed in five major broadsheet newspapers in five jurisdictions in Asia and Europe (France, Great Britain, Hong Kong SAR, Ireland and Japan). We obtained 545 articles for the period between January 2001 and September 2020, more than half of which originated in Japan. A thematic analysis was conducted of these articles written in four languages (Chinese, English, French and Japanese). Positive and negative narratives were teased out, alongside other key prominent themes identified, such as Japan as the land of robots, the pandemic, and the impact of robots on the economy. As the number of robot-related articles grew from the year 2012 onwards, narratives became more nuanced in European newspapers, but not in Asian ones. Furthermore, recent articles began to address the social and relational impact of care robots, while providing concrete examples of improvements in the quality of life for users. Further careful examination will be necessary in the future in order to establish the impact of robotics use in rehabilitation for people with disabilities, older adults, their carers and society at large.

The emergence of care robotics — A patent and publication analysis

The nursing care provider provides appropriate quality care services for the elderly receiving long-term care insurance recipients. Care providers account for the largest number of skilled workers needed for elderly care. The exhaustion of caregivers has a negative impact on the individual’s physical, psychological and psychological aspects. Since nursing care workers have a great influence on the welfare policy of the elderly in the age of aging, measures are needed to prevent exhaustion of care workers. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect of variables related to burnout on 288 caregivers of nursing home teachers. The t-test and ANOVA analysis were conducted to examine the effect of job exhaustion on job-related objective variables, job-related subjective variables, and job satisfaction according to demographic variables. The exhaustion of caregivers has a great impact on demographic factors(marital status, age, education level, living standards, religion). The higher the age, the higher the job satisfaction. The higher the education level, the higher the burnout. The higher the standard of living, the higher the degree of support for family and surroundings, and the higher the level of exhaustion(Christianity) in the absence of religion. The higher the turnover, the higher the job satisfaction. Exhaustion was closely related to high turnover, deterioration of service quality for clients, and decline of morale of caregivers. Health status, job reward and job injury were related to job pride, interest support, elderly, Relationship, job satisfaction, job commitment, and exhaustion. Regression analysis was conducted to examine the effects of socio-demographic characteristics on job-related objective factors, job-related subjective variables, job satisfaction, and job exhaustion. In the first stage, marital status was higher in married, lower living standards, and less religion than Christianity. In the second stage, work experience was less than one year, work less rewarding, and job injuries were more frequent. In the third stage, it was found that marriage status was married rather than widowed, religion was less than Christianity, severity of work injury was higher, job satisfaction was higher when job satisfaction was higher. Care providers play a role of directly providing care services to the elderly at home and at the facility in the age of aging. The services provided by caregivers enable the elderly to live more comfortably and satisfactorily, and also have a significant impact on the quality of life and welfare of the elderly. In order for caregivers to be exhausted, they should feel reassurance through nursing care services and receive other people’s attention and support in connection with their lives. In addition, in order to establish the welfare policy for the elderly in the age of aging, it is necessary to provide nursing care services and provide quality services for the nursing care workers to continue their nursing care work, and to improve the nursing environment.

This paper explores Finnish, German and Swedish older adults’ perceptions of a future welfare service with increased use of welfare technologies, specifically care robots. The issues are the rapid digitalization and development of health and welfare technology, which presently is mainly technology driven (not need or user driven), and the demographic challenge. The aim of the study was to explore older adults’ perception of the future use of welfare technology or care robots. A qualitative approach with focus group discussions was employed, followed by thematic analysis. The results are presented in four overall themes: the impact on daily life for older adults and professional caregivers, codes of practice and terms of use, dissemination of information and knowledge, and conditions for successful implementation. There were significant differences in the informants’ attitudes toward and knowledge about care robots. However, the informants’ attitudes appeared to change during the focus groups and in general, became more positive. Authentic needs, which care robots could support, refer to independence, safety and security, and the ability to manage or ease daily life or working life. The results suggest that older adults, after receiving relevant information, were open to the idea of being supported by care robots in their daily lives.

The purpose of this study is to explore research trends in person-centered care for people with dementia.To this end, in this study, the papers searched for 'dementia', 'human-centered', 'person-centered', 'patient-centered', and 'care' were selected as research subjects among the papers contained in the domestic academic research information journal. Fifty-two academic papers suitable for this research topic were analyzed, and network analysis was performed on the research subject. As a result of the study, 'long-term care institutions for the elderly', 'behavioral psychological symptoms', 'nursing caregivers', and 'the elderly' were derived as the core main subjects in the human-centered care research related to dementia subjects, and the results of the connection centrality index related to the core main subjects were also high in the order of 'long-term care institutions for the elderly', 'behavioral psychological symptoms', 'nursing care workers', and 'the elderly', similar to the results of the frequency analysis. As a result of grouping the subjects with high conceptual relationships, five cohesive structures (Humanity Tude, adult guardianship system for decision-making of the elderly with dementia, communication skills for the care of dementia patients, ethics, moral anguish, social welfare for the elderly with dementia, working environment of dementia care workers in long-term care facilities for the elderly, and emotional labor) were derived. Based on the results of this study, it is thought that in order to provide human-centered care for dementia patients admitted to long-term care institutions for the elderly, it is necessary to provide educational interventions including communication skills, ethical awareness, and coping with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia patients for nursing care workers, who are the main caregivers.

Objectives: This study aimed to provide foundational data to establish a cooperative management system for dental hygienists. This was achieved by exploring the meaning of oral health care as experienced by nursing care workers when caring for older adulys and by gaining an understanding of its essential structure. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological research design was employed. Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews conducted with 12 nursing care workers between September 1 and October 10, 2025. The participants were selected based on their experience in providing daily care for older adults. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using Colaizzi’s phenomenological method, which involves identifying significant statements, formulating meanings, organizing subcategories, and deriving essential themes. Results: A total of 140 meaningful statements related to oral health care experiences were extracted from the interview data. These statements were organized into 12 subcategories, which were further integrated into five thematic clusters and refined into five central meanings. The identified central meanings included path chosen at a turning point in life, daily care involving rewards and responsibilities, beginning of oral health, continuing oral care practice, and sharing dreams with experts. These f indings illustrate how nursing care workers perceive oral health-care to be closely connected to both physical health and the quality of everyday care for older adults. Conclusions: Nursing care workers viewed oral health care not merely as a daily task, but as an integral aspect of life changes, daily care, limitations of their abilities and their aspiration to collaborate with experts. This information can inform future discussions on cooperative oral health-care systems involving nursing care workers and dental hygienists.