The Introduction of Social Robots into the Social Work Practice with Older Adults: a Challenge for the Education of University Students in the Field of Gerontechnology

In the context of social changes associated with population ageing and the expected “social care deficit” in the Czech Republic and beyond, the presented paper deals with the possibilities for using social robots in social work practice. Future generations of social workers will encounter the use of social robots in practice. The aim of our research was to explore social work students’ perspectives on using social robots in social work practice. We formulated research question: how university students of social work think about the use of social robots for older adults in social work practice? In this research, we used the standardized Questionnaire for the Use of a Social Robot– UNRAQ (Tobis et al., 2021). This was distributed to undergraduate social work students (N = 140) who completed a gerontotechnology course. Subsequently, we organized a focus group with several of them (N = 14) to explore the benefits and barriers to the use of social robots in social work practice with older adults. The quantitative data obtained were evaluated using statistical processes, while the qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. The research results showed that students evaluate the use of social robots in social work with older adults as beneficial, but at the same time point out the ethical risks associated with the use. The above confirms the need for education of future social workers in gerontotechnology and social robotics emphasizing ethics. The solution is the introduction of specialised study courses into curricula developed at both the national and international levels.