Informal caregivers’ attitudes towards care robots: A mixed methods systematic review

BACKGROUND: Care Robots (CRs) are capable of performing a multitude of caregiving tasks, demonstrating potential in addressing the aging crisis. However, the implementation of CRs faces challenges, and user attitudes are vital for implementation of CRs. Informal caregivers (ICs), who are the primary providers of care and bear the heavy burden of caregiving, are seldom studied in terms of their attitudes toward CRs. OBJECTIVE: To systematically review the ICs' attitudes towards CRs. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and IEEE Xplore were searched from inception to September 2024. Studies related to ICs' attitudes towards CRs were included. This review followed the methodology for mixed-methods reviews outlined by the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and employed a convergent integrated approach for this study. RESULTS: 34 studies were included, including six quantitative studies, eighteen qualitative studies and ten mixed methods studies. Following thematic analysis and synthesis, four broad analytic themes were identified for concept of CRs, expectations of CRs, facilitators and barriers to use CRs, and ethical concerns of CRs. CONCLUSIONS: ICs generally accepted the use of CRs, but they also reported some concerns about using CRs for implement. In order to support the safe, equitable, and people-oriented implementation of CRs in the long-term care system, we propose consider the ICs' attitudes to optimize CRs, offer more technical support to ICs, and find a way to balance the conflict of use right between ICs and care recipients.