What we do

The progressive aging of our society and the so-called “care staff crisis” pose serious challenges to our care system. New, AI-based technologies seem to offer solutions to these challenges. They could improve the working conditions of professional caregivers, support caregiving relatives in their tasks and, above all, make a positive contribution to the quality of life of those affected. On the other hand, the introduction and use of new technologies can be seen from a more critical point of view. Particularly the field of care and, to an even greater extent, the work with people with dementia, present specifically sensitive contexts in which these technologies could also create new problems: In order to increase efficiency, jobs in the sector could be cut, and affected persons could be overwhelmed with the use of assistive technologies in many ways. There are also ethical questions that must be asked in regards to the development and use of new technologies: What effects do the various systems have, for example, on the autonomy and privacy of those affected and on the relationship between them and their carers?

In order to shed as much light as possible on these aspects only touched upon here, two of the subprojects focus on technical requirements and the involvement of various stakeholders (affected persons, relatives, carers) in the development process. These two subprojects deal with the ethical aspects of the development and use of new technologies in the field of dementia care. They will examine the existing attitudes among affected persons and relatives as well as among professional carers and experts from various fields related to assistive systems. In addition, they are concerned with the ethical concepts of privacy and empowerment and ask what effects the new technologies could have on these concepts in the context of care.

The EIDEC Project consortium