The Centre for Social Informatics (CDI) at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, has been awarded funding for a three-year research project titled Socially Assistive Robots in Elder Care: Acceptance, Ageism, Affordability and Implications of its Use, financed by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS). The project will commence on 1 March 2026 and will be led by Simona Hvalič Touzery, PhD.
Project Background
Slovenia, along with other European countries, is facing rapid population ageing, increasing care needs, and a shortage of formal and informal carers. In this context, socially assistive robots are emerging as one of the potential technological solutions to support older adults in their everyday lives, reduce loneliness, and alleviate the burden on informal carers. However, their actual implementation in practice largely depends on acceptance by end users.
Research shows that attitudes towards socially assistive robots in the care of older adults are strongly shaped by cultural and social factors. In Slovenia, this field remains largely under-researched. Available evidence is mainly based on data from the general population, indicating that residents of Slovenia are particularly reluctant to accept the use of robots in the context of care provision and companionship for older adults. Moreover, existing theoretical models of socially assistive robots’ acceptance often overlook ageism and perceived costs, neglect the perspectives of informal carers, and rarely account for the interaction between the older person, the robot, and the caregiver. Decisions regarding the use of such technologies are frequently formed within the relationship between the older adult and their informal carers, which calls for moving beyond the traditional human–robot interaction model.
Project objectives
The project addresses critical gaps and complex issues related to the acceptance of socially assistive robots among community-dwelling older adults and their informal carers. To address these challenges, the project will:
- Conduct a scoping review and participatory World Café dialogues to develop an innovative theoretical framework of socially assistive robots’ acceptance in community-dwelling older adults and informal carers taking into consideration ageism and perceived cost as specific constructs.
- Undertake Slovenia’s first nationally representative survey to provide currently non-existing knowledge on the general attitudes of the Slovenian adult population towards socially assistive robots, focussing on their perceptions of socially assistive robots use in elder care and possible influence of ageism.
- Empirically validate newly developed low-cost companion socially assistive robots’ acceptance models for community-dwelling older adults and informal carers, investigating ageism and perceived cost as novel constructs through a national survey of these groups.
- Evaluate the acceptance, experiences and effects of a low-cost companion socially assistive robots through a 4-month intervention study using the HHRI interaction scheme.
- Create user-centred materials and a policy brief with actionable recommendations for policymakers and care providers.
The project’s findings will be disseminated beyond academic audiences and will be transferable to other specific groups, such as people living with dementia.
The project is led by a research team with extensive experience in long-term and informal care, telecare, and telehealth. An important contribution will be provided by the project partner, the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana. The project will also be supported by an international scientific advisory board, ensuring high scientific quality, feasibility, and impact of the project’s results.