If I had a Robot at Home... Peoples’ Representation of Domestic Robots

Abstract

The decrease in childbirth and the great increase in life expectancy represent typical demographic trends in industrialised countries. These tendencies make more concrete the issue regarding elderly people: the more they grow old, the more they are likely to need medical, social and personal care services. Nursing home care services are probably the most important example in terms of social costs, not only because they are extremely expensive from an economic point of view, but also because they determine a forced relocation of elderly people. To be compelled to live in a new place, completely depending on other people’s assistance, has unquestionably a deep psychological impact (Hormuth, 1990): probably more difficult to assess than the economic expenditures, but definitely not less significant. Elderly people undoubtedly prefer living independently in a familiar domestic and residential setting. Anyway, a new series of problems arises, due to the shortage of residential infrastructures and facilities and the lack of home service workers compared to the large number of people who need assistance. As for domestic settings, in addition, the psychological impact of a long term home care assistance is still far from well understood: assistance provided by other people can generate a stronger negative influence upon final users, in that they may perceive a loss of control in their living space, and they may look at home service caregivers as privacy intruders. This condition may represent a menace to self-esteem and to the integrity of personal identity.