From the perspective of the introduction of care robots in home care, personnel training and the construction of a positive working atmosphere play a key role. In addition, the introduction of robots requires further consideration of a number of ethical issues.
Purpose:The aim of the study was to analyze and compare elderly care personnel attitudes toward care robots in Finland and Japan. Design: Cross-sectional survey in Finland and Japan. Methods: The Finnish sample was collected from care personnel in home care facilities in five municipalities in 2016. The Japanese sample was collected from personnel in two rehabilitative day centers and three residential care homes for the elderly in the north of Honshu Island in 2017. The data were analyzed using basic statistical methods and calculated descriptive statistics (frequencies). Differences between the Finnish and Japanese data have been analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Findings: Overall, Japanese care personnel assessed the usefulness of robots more positively than did their Finnish counterparts. The data showed substantial national differences in the perceived importance of various potential tasks for care robots. The findings show that there are also certain fears related to the introduction of care robots, in particular among the Finnish care personnel. Discussion: The data from the Japanese care personnel bring new perspectives to the concept of a close human-robot relationship. The differences seen in the results between Finland and Japan can be partly explained by cultural dissimilarity, but it is also known that Japan is a more developed country with regard to the use of robotics in nursing care. The research highlights the importance of cultural factors when examining the issue of care robotics. The factors affecting fear are a concern that care robots would be used to replace people, the dehumanization of treatment, and an increased loneliness in the elderly. Thus, further research is required to demonstrate the relationship between different cultural factors, and attitudes and conceptions toward care robots. Clinical Relevance: Management plays a key role when implementing robotics. It is important to help care personnel accept care robots, and to diminish any fears that their introduction would make the treatment of elderly people inhumane or in some way add to their loneliness. As such, education is crucial in changing attitudes and making care personnel understand that care robots can perform routine tasks, allowing care personnel to focus on providing improved care and nursing.Care Personnel's Attitudes and Fears Coco et al.
The aim of this study was to develop and validate a measure of robot use self-efficacy in healthcare work (RUSH) based on social cognitive theory and the theory of planned behavior. This article provides a briefing on technology-specific selfefficacy and discusses the development, validation and implementation of an instrument that measures care workers' selfefficacy in working with robots. The validity evaluation of the Finnish-language measure was based on representative survey samples gathered in 2016. The respondents included practical and registered nurses, homecare workers, and physiotherapists. A majority of the respondents were female. The full instrument consists of a set of six task-specific selfefficacy items concerning general views of technological skills, confidence in learning robot use, and confidence in guiding others in robot use. Three items were chosen for the shorter version of the measure. The face validity, construct validity, and reliability were established to validate the instruments. Both 3-item and 6-item measures were found to be highly consistent in structure. Respondents with high levels of RUSH also reported more general self-efficacy and interest in technology, on average. A very brief instrument of three items is convenient to include in repeated employee surveys.
The study shows that the examination of home care personnel's attitudes towards robots is not justified to focus only on one aspect, but a better explanation is achieved by combining the perspectives of societal attitudes, attitudes related to psychological reactions and the practical care and promotion of the independent living of older people.
This study analyzes the relationship between individualist values and entrepreneurial intentions. Previous surveys have shown that major national differences in entrepreneurial intentions can be observed within Europe and that part of this variation can be explained by cultural values, especially the individualism-collectivism dimension. However, previous findings about the relationship between individualism and entrepreneurship remain contradictory. Research design and methods: This study is a micro-level analysis of the influence of individualistic values. The theoretical framework of the study is based on the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991; 2001) and theories of individualism advanced by Hofstede (1980) and Triandis and Gelfand (1998). The research data were gathered from a survey of Finnish students (N=725). Findings: The results show that the relationship between cultural values and entrepreneurial intention is very complex. In contrast to Hofstede (1980), the study assumes individualism and collectivism to be two separate and independent dimensions of cultural values, both of which have a positive, indirect effect on entrepreneurial intention by way of subjective norms and perceived control. Practical implications: Both individualist and collectivist values promote entrepreneurial intentions. From this point of view, general citizenship education, which supports the development of young people's cultural values, can be seen as a significant element in entrepreneurship education. This suggests an instance of holistic education, the aim of which is for individuals' autonomy and contestability to be combined with community and collective responsibility. Originality/value: The analysis of Triandis and Gelfand (1998) has not been systematically utilized in the previous studies on entrepreneurial intentions. The findings of this study address not only the influence of psychological factors over entrepreneurial intentions, but also the impact of individualist and collectivist values. The results complement the results of previous studies.
The digitization of society creates both challenges and opportunities for prisons. Previous studies show that prisons' digitization affects interaction between incarcerated people, prison culture and reduces recidivism, however it also poses security risks. In this study, we ask how do barriers to digital inclusion appear among incarcerated people in the prison context, and how do they perceive whether face-to-face interactions with employees can be replaced by digital services. The analytical starting points of the study are rhetorical analysis and Goffman´s micro-sociological analysis. The research material consists of 26 incarcerated people's interviews from different parts of Finland. The results show that gaps in digital skills and access to the internet are key barriers to digital inclusion in prisons. The question of whether digital services can replace face-to-face encounters raised conflicting comments. Interviewees emphasized the importance of social interaction in their desistance, but also the benefits of digitization such as the possibility of anonymity. In addition, the research highlights the tense nature of prison culture, as well as the different aspirations of prisoners. The pursuit of digital agency can also manifest itself in various secondary adjustments. The digitization of prisons means a change in the prison employee's role and work approach.
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine young people’s attitudes toward social welfare and their perceptions of who is responsible for providing social welfare benefits. Design/methodology/approach – Social welfare attitudes were examined related to three themes: government responsibility, trust in society, and individual responsibility. A sample of 725 students from 12 high and vocational schools in south Finland was used for analysis. Findings – The data suggest that young people have a high regard for the importance of the government’s role as a social support and a mechanism of social welfare for all citizens. In addition, the results show that women highlight government responsibility more than men, and that men highlight the individual’s own responsibility for social issues. According to the results, there is a weak relationship between cultural values and social welfare attitudes. Collective values relate positively to an emphasis on trust in government and government responsibility for social problems, and relate negatively to an emphasis on individuals’ personal responsibility. Originality/value – The study shows that the main principles of the welfare state are still accepted by the Finnish youth, although recent speculations about the future of welfare states.
This study examines the relationship between the welfare state models and social political attitudes. The data are based on the sixth round of the European Social Survey. The study revealed a mechanism of how the relationship between concrete and abstract attitudes differs between the welfare states. In the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic welfare states the relationship is a positive one, which indicates that the welfare state has a broad support among citizens. In the Continental, Eastern and Southern welfare states the relationship is a negative one. This means that the less satisfied citizens are with governmental measures, the more positive their attitudes are regarding protecting citizens against poverty. Also the study showed that the welfare state model directly influences citizens’ concrete attitudes and indirectly influences abstract poverty attitudes. In this sense, the welfare state model is seen more as an attitudinal perception than an actual social policy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.