Do the elderly prefer robotic care?

The growing senior population in Japan, combined with a shortage of long-term care workers, has fueled interest in care-giving robots and information and communication technology (ICT). A study of 4,314 Japanese individuals aged between 55 and 75, conducted through a custom-designed internet survey, offers new insights into older individuals' perceptions of such technologies.

Respondents chose between two identical nursing homes, one relying solely on human caregivers and the other incorporating robots and ICT for a key care domain, such as communication, monitoring, or mobility assistance. A majority of respondents (65 percent) expressed a preference for nursing homes utilizing robots and ICT for care provision.

Acceptance of this technology varied depending on the specific care domain, with mobility assistance garnering the highest level of acceptance, followed by monitoring, and communication receiving the lowest approval. The willingness to pay (WTP) for a nursing home where robots and ICT provide a substantial portion of care was found to be 8 percent higher than the typical fee for a nursing home.

Prior exposure to caregiving robots positively correlated with both acceptance and WTP, suggesting that information plays a role in shaping older individuals' preferences. Additionally, acceptance and WTP were strongly linked to attitudes expressed toward robots and ICT in the survey, providing evidence of the internal consistency of survey responses.

The study's authors suggest that the potential benefits of introducing robots and ICT in care settings could outweigh the costs, particularly for mobility-aid robots.