The Ethics of Socially Assistive Robots in Aged Care. A Focus Group Study with Older Adults in Flanders, Belgium

OBJECTIVES: Socially Assistive Robots (SARs) need to be studied from older adults' perspective, given their predicted future ubiquity in aged-care settings. Current ethical discourses on SARs in aged care are uninformed by primary stakeholders' ethical perceptions. This study reports on what community-dwelling older adults in Flanders, Belgium, perceive as ethical issues of SARs in aged care. METHODS: Constructivist grounded theory guided the study of 9 focus groups of 59 community-dwelling older adults (70+ years) in Flanders, Belgium. An open-ended topic guide and a modified AliceCares documentary focused discussions. The Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL) guided data analysis. RESULTS: Data revealed older adults' multi-dimensional perceptions on the ethics of SARs which were structured along 3 sections: (1) SARs as components of a techno-societal evolution, (2) SARs' embeddedness in aged-care dynamics, (3) SARs as embodiments of ethical considerations. DISCUSSION: Perceptions socio-historically contextualize the ethics of SAR use by older adults' views on societal, organizational and relational contexts in which aged care takes place. These contexts need to inform the ethical criteria for the design, development and use of SARs. Focusing on older adults' ethical perceptions creates 'normativity in place', viewing participants as moral subjects.