On January 23, 2020, the Commission on the Report on the Elderly handed over the Eighth Report on the Elderly to the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Dr. Franziska Giffey. Further information can be found online at: https://www.achter-altersbericht.de/.
03.2020: German Ethics Council publishes statement “Robotics for good care”.
The German Ethics Council published its statement on robotic systems in the context of care on 10.03.2020. Information on the statement and the statement itself can be found online at: https://www.ethikrat.org/themen/aktuelle-ethikratthemen/robotik-und-pflege/
01.2020: Anthology “Genesis and consequences of care robotics” published
At the beginning of 2020, the Institute of Sociology at the Technical University of Berlin published an anthology on the topic “Genesis and Consequences of Care Robotics – The Constitution of an Interdisciplinary Research Field” with Beltz Verlag. Information on the volume (table of contents and reading sample) can be found online at: https://www.beltz.de/fachmedien/soziologie/produkte/produkt_produktdetails/39105-genese_und_folgen_der_pflegerobotik.html
09.2019: GKV Spitzenverband on the topic of “Digitalization and the need for care – benefits and potentials of assistance technologies”.
The National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV Spitzenverband) has published volume 15 of its series of papers entitled Modellprogramm zur Weiterentwicklung der Pflegeversicherung (Model Program for the Further Development of Long-Term Care Insurance) under the title “Digitalization and the Need for Long-Term Care – Benefits and Potentials of Assistance Technologies”. The text is available online at: https://www.gkv-spitzenverband.de/media/dokumente/presse/publikationen/schriftenreihe/GKV-Schriftenreihe_Pflege_Band_15.pdf
09.2019: Dissertation on the topic of RobotCare at the TU Munich.
The dissertation paper “Interfacing RobotCare – On the Techno-Politics of Innovation” (Dr. Benjamin Lipp, TU Munich) can be viewed at: https://mediatum.ub.tum.de/1472757
08.2018: Older people and digitization: Commission of experts of the Eighth Ageing Report of the Federal Government starts work
In August 2018, the German Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Dr. Franziska Giffey, appointed the German government’s Eighth Commission on Ageing. As part of the priority topic “Older people and digitization,” ten experts from the fields of gerontology, computer science, sociology and cultural studies will work out what contribution digitization and technology can make to a good life in old age, what benefits and added value this has for older people, and what societal, social and ethical issues need to be considered in this context. The expert panel will be chaired by Prof. Dr. Andreas Kruse, Director of the Institute of Gerontology at Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg. The expert report is expected to be available by November 2019. The work of the expert commission is accompanied by the Office of Gerontology Reports of the Federal Government at the German Center for Gerontology.
Further information can be found at: https://www.achter-altersbericht.de/der-achte-altersbericht/
06.2018: Memorandum “Work and Technology 4.0 in Professional Care” published
The memorandum “Arbeit und Technik 4.0 in der professionellen Pflege” (Work and Technology 4.0 in Professional Care) is the result of cooperation between five research associations in the funding priority “Preventive Measures for the Safe and Healthy Work of Tomorrow” of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This cooperation within the focus group “New approaches to occupational health and safety in the care and service sector” provided the basis for discussions around and proposals for the future design of “Work and Technology 4.0” in care.
The aim of the present memorandum is to present the joint positioning of the signatories on the sustainable and future-oriented design and implementation of technical innovations in the work area of nursing staff.
06.2018: German Bundestag provides expert opinion on robotics in nursing care
Under the title “Robotics and assistive neurotechnologies in care – societal challenges”, the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB) has prepared an expert report on robotics in care. The paper can be downloaded at: https://www.tab-beim-bundestag.de/de/pdf/publikationen/berichte/TAB-Arbeitsbericht-ab177.pdf
08.2017: BGW publishes study “Nursing care 4.0: Use of modern technologies from the perspective of professional caregivers”
The Berufsgenossenschaft für Gesundheitsdienst und Wohlfahrtspflege (BGW) publishes the results of a survey of over 500 nursing staff on the use and acceptance of new technologies in everyday nursing care. The study is available at: https://www.bgw-online.de/DE/Medien-Service/Medien-Center/Medientypen/BGW-Broschueren/BGW09-14-002-Pflege-4-0-Einsatz-moderner-Technologien.html
12.2017: German Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) presents Delphi study on new technologies in elderly care of the future.
Against the backdrop of current debates on the design of “Care 4.0” or the “Care of the Future”, the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) has presented the results of the study “Technologies in a Care of the Elderly of the Future – A Delphi Study”. The aim of the study is to obtain expert-based forecasts on the significance of technologies for everyday working life.
The most important results of the Delphi study can be found at: https://www.baua.de/DE/Angebote/Publikationen/Fokus/Pflege-der-Zukunft.html