Over the coming decades globally labor forces will age substantially. Population ageing will result in a decline in the potential labor force causing a negative labor supply. Widening the use of robots may be a welcome solution to the consequences of global ageing.
Adopting technology Technological intervention can improve the lives of elderly who has less physical strength to work. Increasing adoption of technologies (for instance, robots) perform tasks previously undertaken by labor.
As the working population shrinks rapidly, technology can compensate for the loss. Technology improves productivity by allowing countries to do the same work using a smaller workforce, thus overcoming the effects of ageing. Technology can effectively improve healthcare quality, delivery and results. Technology can support the possible mobility for old people.
Benefits : For people living with memory loss, robots can remind them about things they often forget, like prompting them to take medication, eat meals etc. Robots can also provide companionship and entertainment
They help reduce negative behavioral and psychological symptoms. They can also support human caregivers by providing watchful eyes and helping hands. Robots do not experience stress and burnout and there are other practical benefits, too. They assist older people with disabilities to remain independent and to monitor their safety and social connectedness.
Robots for dementia care Japan is a “super-ageing” society, with the population getting older faster. As populations age, there will be fewer health care workers to care for a larger group of patients. The country is producing robots for people with dementia – to provide companionship, improve safety in the home, and help with therapy.
People with daily conversations are able to enjoy a more stable mind and improve cognitive functions. Robots can help with physical caregiving tasks and monitor behaviour and symptoms.
Concerns / Challenges As India’s population ages, the nation will face a shrinking pool of working-age people to support the elderly population. Once they retire, elderly people often feel loss of status, worthlessness and loneliness. Declining family support and severely limited old-age income security
Replacing human caregiving with technology can deprive people of social interaction and worsen the problems of loneliness and isolation. Consent and privacy issues arise if a person is unable to turn off monitoring and data tracking features. High cost of robots makes it unaffordable to middle and lower income groups. Technology developers are sometimes criticised for a mismatch between their enthusiasm for robots and the preferences of older people. They can commit mistakes because of hardware or software faults. If not corrected, these mistakes can lead to grave consequences and massive loss.
