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Young carers on social robots: introducing teenagers as informal caregivers to HRI

  • Laetitia Tanqueray
    ,
  • Chris Papadopoulos
    ,
  • Stefan Larsson
    ,
  • Katie Winkle
  • Lund University
    ,
  • Uppsala University
Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Conference contribution Peer-review

Sustainable Development Goals

  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well

Abstract

This paper presents a participatory, qualitative focus group study with 13 young carers - young people between 13 to 18 years old who take care of a parent due to either a chronic illness, mental health problem, or other condition connected with a need for care in Wales and England. We identify and assert young carers as an important, thus far unconsidered, user group in Human-Robot Interaction (HRI). As such, this study is the first to explore this group's unique perspectives, highlighting their lived experiences and perceptions of care robots in the domestic setting. Our findings reveal the heterogeneity of this group, particularly regarding support for their caregiving roles and their ongoing use of technology. While participants saw social robots as having potential, especially for (i) time management, (ii) emotional and (iii) informational support, and (iv) monitoring their parent's health; concerns were raised about issues such as (1) malfunction, (2) limited range, (3) privacy and (4) cost. We distil our findings into some reflections on how future HRI research might better consider this important user group, including some methodological reflections on the practical, ethical and emotional challenges of undertaking this type of work.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding Conference contribution Peer-review

Original language

English

Pages from-to (Number of pages)

Pages 381-390 (10 pages)

Publication milestones

  • Published - 30/04/2025

Publication status

Published - 30/04/2025

Publisher

IEEE Computer Society, United States

Publication series

  • Publication series name: ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction
    ISSN (Electronic): 2167-2148

ISBN (Print)

9798350378931

ISBN (Electronic)

9798350378931

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/626822
  • Scopus: 105004875590

Host publication title

HRI 2025 - Proceedings of the 2025 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction

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