Ejdys, J.; Halicka, K. Sustainable Adaptation of New Technology—The Case of Humanoids Used for the Care of Older Adults. Sustainability2018, 10, 3770.
Ejdys, J.; Halicka, K. Sustainable Adaptation of New Technology—The Case of Humanoids Used for the Care of Older Adults. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3770.
Ejdys, J.; Halicka, K. Sustainable Adaptation of New Technology—The Case of Humanoids Used for the Care of Older Adults. Sustainability2018, 10, 3770.
Ejdys, J.; Halicka, K. Sustainable Adaptation of New Technology—The Case of Humanoids Used for the Care of Older Adults. Sustainability 2018, 10, 3770.
Abstract
The processes of an ageing population are becoming a challenge in the context of social, technological, and research policy. Also, according to the perspective 2080, Poland belongs to the group of counties with the prognosticated number of citizens over 65 to account for one-third of the population. Different strategies aimed at dealing with the mentioned demographic challenges include widespread use of humanoids in care for older people. As the research of such nature was the first in Poland, this article aimed to identify the factors and their interlinks that determine the attitude and the future use of humanoids by older people of the Polish society. Based on the specific attributes of humanoid technology, the model hypothesises that an attitude to technology can be directly predicted by four perceived technology attributes, namely an impact on the quality of life, technological impact, ethical and social problems, while user attitude towards humanoid technology is predicted to have an indirect influence on the future intention of use. A survey method was used to collect research data. An electronic questionnaire was used to conduct confidential interviews. Finally, 643 filled questionnaires were received. Results received via a regression analysis confirmed that the most important factor influencing human attitudes was a positive social impact achieved using humanoids in the care of lonely people and improving the safety of older people. Another important factor was a technological impact from the use of humanoids performing functions desired by respondents. The technology in question could be useful for reminding older people about taking medication, informing family members about the health condition of their older people and calling for help on their behalf.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
