One important strategy for overcoming the demographic challenges is currently seen in providing robotic systems to support people in need of care and family caregivers as well as professional caregivers at home, in nursing homes or hospitals. The extent to which such robotic support can and may go in these areas is currently the subject of intense debate in the scientific community and among the general public, both from an ethical and a scientific point of view.
With the funding line “Robotic Systems for Care”, the BMBF supports innovative research and development projects for robotic support of care. Within the framework of this funding line, ten interdisciplinary project networks for the development, testing and evaluation of robotics for care will be funded between 2020 and 2023. These projects aim to strengthen the independence and well-being of people in need of care, to relieve the physical and psychological burden on caregivers and relatives, and thus to contribute to high-quality care.
The scientific accompanying project for the funding line “Justification and evaluation standards of robotics for care” (BeBeRobot) examines the possibilities and limits of robotic support in an interdisciplinary manner from a technical, nursing, social science and ethical perspective. Affected stakeholder groups as well as all collaborative projects of the funding line “Robotic Systems for Care” are also involved. Through close cooperation with the collaborative projects, overarching experiences and findings in the development and testing of robotics for care are compiled and evaluated with a view to a technically and socially justifiable use. The aim is to develop a practical instrument for the evaluation of robotic systems for nursing that is based on nursing and social sciences as well as ethics, and to advance the theoretical and methodological foundations for the socio-technical further development of nursing in Germany.
This website provides an overview of the status of the respective work within the scope of the funding line. In addition, current information on the topic of “robotic systems for nursing care” is provided. In order to support the public discourse on the topic, a procedure will be made available via this website during the funding period that will enable an Internet-supported interactive exchange as well as public participation in the development of ideas for the care of the future.
We are looking forward to your interest and to the exchange with you!
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