Robotic Technology in the Care of Older Persons: A Cross-Sectional National Survey Among Adults in Switzerland

Robotic technologies will likely be part of the caregiving needs for older adults in the future. In this study, we assessed the acceptance of several robotic functions among a representative sample of adults in Switzerland and tested (a) the acceptance of different robotic functions, and (b) explored how different sets of predictors explained variance in the acceptance of 2 robotic functions: (a) "robots for assistive support" and (b) "robots for companionship."

A survey was administered to a randomly selected group of adults from the 3 official linguistic regions of Switzerland using computer-aided-telephone-interviews. Data obtained were weighted for the Swiss adult population and analyzed using descriptive statistics, multilevel modeling, and sequential regression analysis.

A total of 1,211 adults responded to the survey. Acceptance was higher for using "robots for assistive support" than "robots for companionship," with no significant statistical difference between linguistic regions. Usefulness of robotic functions in reducing caregiving stress explained the most variance in our model for both outcome variables. External predictors such as the fear of robots and the fear that robots will replace human care explained the least amount of variance.

When robots are used in the care of older adults, user adoption is likely to be positive when the end-users (older persons and their caregivers) perceive that their use meaningfully reduces caregiving stress. More research is needed to further test the role of external factors for technology adoption, especially those that touch the notion of human contact.