Care Robotics: An Assessment of Professional Perception in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 crisis accelerated the adoption of technologies. Technological advancement is also expected in robotics applied to any sector, including in healthcare. The aim is to assess the professional perception of care robotics facing COVID-19. This study aimed to (1) select a tool for assessing...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: González Aguña, Alexandra, Gonzalo de Diego, Blanca, Páez Ramos, Sandra, Fernández Batalla, Marta, Jiménez Rodríguez, María Lourdes|||0000-0003-4398-5404, Santamaría García, José María|||0000-0001-7203-4021
Format: article
Publication Date:2023
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repository:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/63133
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/63133
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11070946
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Health informatics
Robotics
COVID-19
Assistive technologies
Health technology assessment
Enfermería
Informática
Nursing
Computer science
Description
Summary:The COVID-19 crisis accelerated the adoption of technologies. Technological advancement is also expected in robotics applied to any sector, including in healthcare. The aim is to assess the professional perception of care robotics facing COVID-19. This study aimed to (1) select a tool for assessing different aspects of healthcare, (2) analyse the professional perception about the development, usefulness and helpfulness of technologies and robotics in the field of healthcare and (3) evaluate the correlation between the perceived helpfulness of care robotics and the selected tool. We implement five validated clinical tests which integrate 80 items about a person and their clinical situation. From the sample of 46 professionals, 95.65% affirmed that technology was moderately to completely useful for professional performance in the context of the pandemic, lowering to 67.39% when asked only about robotics; 93.48% stated that the inclusion of robotics in at least one health area affected by COVID-19 would have helped them. Finally, the variables extracted from clinical tests corresponded to the most relevant health areas as identified by the professionals. This research shows the potential of care robotics oriented towards healthcare from a care paradigm.