Assistant without Master? Some Conceptual Implications of Assistive Robotics in Health Care

The subject of “technical assistants” in inpatient care is currently being widely discussed in scientific and public circles. In many cases, though, it has become apparent that the umbrella term “assistive technologies”, also in the context of robotics, is very contrived. Against this background, th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Technologies (Basel) 2018-03, Vol.6 (1), p.13
Main Authors: Krings, Bettina-Johanna, Weinberger, Nora
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
care setting
concept of assistance
frame of reference
functionalities
Inpatient care
need analysis
Robotics
Social factors
technical assistants
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The subject of “technical assistants” in inpatient care is currently being widely discussed in scientific and public circles. In many cases, though, it has become apparent that the umbrella term “assistive technologies”, also in the context of robotics, is very contrived. Against this background, the authors of this article reflect on the meaning of “assistance” in socio-technical systems, and critically review its relevance. To understand and demonstrate “assistive” functions, it is essential to establish a frame of reference. The re-evaluation of an empirical study of people with dementia in inpatient care has revealed the functional character of technical assistance systems. The results, however, show that the theoretical debate on the social and organisational function of “assistance” in these technical fields is still lacking. Therefore, the reflections in this paper may also provide some starting points for this debate.
ISSN:2227-7080
2227-7080
DOI:10.3390/technologies6010013