Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork

In interviews with healthcare workers, we explore the potential and challenges of future deployment of robotic assistance systems in healthcare. We focus on individual expectations, wishes and fears. We especially emphasize the potential role of robotic systems in team dynamics. Will robots be cowor...

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Main Authors: Anna M.H. Abrams, Lena Plum, Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949882125000209
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author Anna M.H. Abrams
Lena Plum
Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten
author_facet Anna M.H. Abrams
Lena Plum
Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten
author_sort Anna M.H. Abrams
collection DOAJ
description In interviews with healthcare workers, we explore the potential and challenges of future deployment of robotic assistance systems in healthcare. We focus on individual expectations, wishes and fears. We especially emphasize the potential role of robotic systems in team dynamics. Will robots be coworkers in the future or are they expected to be tools? Irrespective of that, are they anticipated to change coworking within a team? Following a grounded theoretical approach, we aim to generate new theories and research questions on robotic assistance systems from the perspective of healthcare workers. We find that healthcare workers are generally optimistic about the implementation of technology in their workplace and not all have pressing concerns. Paradoxically, we further find that reasoning for why a robot could be part of a team are similar among participants who are opposed to robots in teams and those who are in favour. While participants only focused on work- and task-related criteria when arguing why a robot could be a future colleague, they presented work-and task-unrelated criteria for why a robot could not be one. We discuss the expected impact of robotic assistance systems on work teams in healthcare and pose resulting questions to inspire future hypothetico-inferential research on human-robot teams. We conclude with arguing why current team definitions do not fit human-robot teams and propose a new theoretical model for teams that include humans and robots.
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spelling doaj-art-1a4cbd4e238d4aec86476633d47774772025-08-20T03:22:04ZengElsevierComputers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans2949-88212025-05-01410013610.1016/j.chbah.2025.100136Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamworkAnna M.H. Abrams0Lena Plum1Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten2Corresponding author.; Chair Individual and Technology (iTec), RWTH Aachen University, Theaterplatz 14, 52062, Aachen, GermanyChair Individual and Technology (iTec), RWTH Aachen University, Theaterplatz 14, 52062, Aachen, GermanyChair Individual and Technology (iTec), RWTH Aachen University, Theaterplatz 14, 52062, Aachen, GermanyIn interviews with healthcare workers, we explore the potential and challenges of future deployment of robotic assistance systems in healthcare. We focus on individual expectations, wishes and fears. We especially emphasize the potential role of robotic systems in team dynamics. Will robots be coworkers in the future or are they expected to be tools? Irrespective of that, are they anticipated to change coworking within a team? Following a grounded theoretical approach, we aim to generate new theories and research questions on robotic assistance systems from the perspective of healthcare workers. We find that healthcare workers are generally optimistic about the implementation of technology in their workplace and not all have pressing concerns. Paradoxically, we further find that reasoning for why a robot could be part of a team are similar among participants who are opposed to robots in teams and those who are in favour. While participants only focused on work- and task-related criteria when arguing why a robot could be a future colleague, they presented work-and task-unrelated criteria for why a robot could not be one. We discuss the expected impact of robotic assistance systems on work teams in healthcare and pose resulting questions to inspire future hypothetico-inferential research on human-robot teams. We conclude with arguing why current team definitions do not fit human-robot teams and propose a new theoretical model for teams that include humans and robots.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949882125000209Human-robot interactionHuman-robot teamsRobotic assistanceHealthcareTeamwork
spellingShingle Anna M.H. Abrams
Lena Plum
Astrid M. Rosenthal-von der Pütten
Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork
Computers in Human Behavior: Artificial Humans
Human-robot interaction
Human-robot teams
Robotic assistance
Healthcare
Teamwork
title Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork
title_full Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork
title_fullStr Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork
title_full_unstemmed Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork
title_short Teaming up with robots: Analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork
title_sort teaming up with robots analysing potential and challenges with healthcare workers and defining teamwork
topic Human-robot interaction
Human-robot teams
Robotic assistance
Healthcare
Teamwork
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949882125000209
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AT lenaplum teamingupwithrobotsanalysingpotentialandchallengeswithhealthcareworkersanddefiningteamwork
AT astridmrosenthalvonderputten teamingupwithrobotsanalysingpotentialandchallengeswithhealthcareworkersanddefiningteamwork