With further staff shortages in healthcare, hopes are now pinned on innovation: technology and robots could potentially replace more than 100,000 workers, a recent study found.
The Rotterdam healthcare institution Profila also suffers from high work pressure and staff shortages. But the work is lightened a bit by social robot Sara. Resident Adri is very fond of the robot. He can’t see the movies about steam trains often enough. “Trains and gymnastics” he says enthusiastically.
In addition to playing videos and songs, the robot also has a gymnastics program, with which it helps residents to move. And with the help of sensors, the robot can assist in the night shift. “The bed sensor tells Sara that someone is restless and then she says: Hey, it’s still night, it’s only 2 o’clock. Go back to sleep. This gives the night shift employee a little more time to visit a client,” says Maartje Claassen from Sara Robotics.
Overrated
The expectations regarding robots in the healthcare world are therefore high. An investigation commissioned by the tech sector, promises that technology and robots can save 110,000 healthcare employees in the coming years. The Minister for Long-term Care, Conny Helder, is also hopeful.
But professor of ‘Haptic Human-Robot Interaction’ at TU Delft, David Abbink, is tempering expectations. “The idea that robots can be a quick fix for the workforce shortage is overstated. It’s a complex challenge.” According to Abbink, the research ignores the effects of robots and other technological developments in the workplace too quickly.
Nevertheless, robot Sara is presented by the sector as a promising concept, although only 26 of them are in operation in the Netherlands. There are several reasons why there aren’t more Sara’s on the road. “It is quite something to include a robot in the work. And then the money. We have to be able to demonstrate that we offer added value. Quite a complex process”, says Claassen.
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Effect on employees
In the long run, care robot Rose should offer practical help and even start working as a carer. This interaction with the complex care environment is difficult to program. The intention is that Rose will soon be able to get a cup of coffee or prepare lunch herself.
Professor Abbink acknowledges that some successes have already been achieved, especially in the field of ‘social robots’ such as Sara. But he also sees that the use of robots does not always have a positive effect. “Sometimes a robot can take over some of the work, but it can still have an unintended negative impact on employees.”
He illustrates this effect on employees with a well-known example from the manufacturing industry. “There, employees had to walk a long way back and forth to get the necessary parts for their work. That took a lot of time. A robot cart was developed that took over the work for them. Ideal, you might say. But guess what: the employees lost job satisfaction. During the walks, social contacts took place and ideas emerged. An efficient robot on paper turned out to be deadly for creativity and innovation.”
If robots will soon be able to do everything, do we really have to want to? This distopic video was made years ago in protest against the breakdown of elderly care.
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A washing robot for the elderly is not such a bad idea, says Margo van Kemenade. She obtained her PhD on the ethical objections to care robots. She doesn’t think it’s scary. “Care providers say: we are not going to do that, because people are vulnerable and old. A person needs to be involved. But the elderly still have to be washed.”
Abbink argues for a different mindset. “Letting go of the idea of replacing employees and working on robots that really support people. The control rests with humans and the robot adapts and learns along with it.”
See an example of the automatic adjustment here: the man determines the pace and the movements, but the robot provides the power. They complement each other. If the man gets better at his job and develops, then the robot joins in.
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