Keith W. Miller of University of Missouri – St. Louis, United States, has joined The 8th Asian Conference on Aging & Gerontology (AGen2022) on the panel for “Helping Hands: Robotic Assistance in Supporting and Maintaining Social Interactions with Elders”.
Additional panelists that have been chosen to discuss this topic will be announced over the coming weeks. Follow the conference website and social media pages (Facebook / Twitter) for more information.
To participate in AGen2022 as an audience member, please register for the conference.
Speaker Biography
Keith W. Miller
University of Missouri – St. Louis, United States
Keith W. Miller is the Orthwein Endowed Professor for Lifelong Learning in the Sciences at the University of Missouri – St. Louis, USA. In that position, he is partnering with the St. Louis Science Center. Dr Miller’s research interests are in computer ethics, online learning, and software testing. He is a past editor-in-chief of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. He was awarded the 2011 Joseph Weizenbaum Award by the International Society for Ethics and Information Technology, and is currently the President of that Society. He has been a principal investigator of grants from the US National Science Foundation to study the effects of ethics education for computer science students, and to encourage scientists to become teachers.
Abstract
Helping Hands: Robotic Assistance in Supporting and Maintaining Social Interactions with Elders
The use of robotic assistive devices in nursing homes, residential facilities, and homebound elders has rapidly increased as technology has improved. Researchers have argued that robotics will play a significant role in the coming decades. Lifelike animals provide visual and physical stimuli to impaired elders. Still, more advanced technology now allows robotics to provide communication support, reminders, and the ability to interact with family members and offer eldercare virtually. Alternatively, some care advocates have expressed concern that robotics will become a substitute for in-person interactions between elders, family members, and support networks. There are also concerns that the extensive use of robotics may negatively impact the quality of care received by the individual from residential providers. This panel will offer an authoritative discussion of the positive uses of robotics in supporting and supplementing the care of homebound, disabled, or cognitively impaired elders. While recognizing the potential risk of abuse if robotics becomes a substitute for care, the panel will emphasize how robotics can improve the emotional health of elders and best practices to ensure that robotics represents a supplemental tool to improve the overall quality of life of the older population.
