Changes in Technology Acceptance of Smart Care Beds Among Long-Term Care Workers in Korea

Objectives: This study investigates the changing perceptions of Korean care workers regarding a robotic bed designed to assist with repositioning and prevent pressure ulcers. With the primary aim of assessing the technology acceptance among care workers using the robotic bed to solve the problem of a shortage of care workers in Korea, we sought to examine the possibility of applying care robots in the field. Methods: A total of 20 long-term care workers participated in the experiment, and their attitudes were measured before and after using the robot. Frequency analysis and paired t-tests were conducted using Stata 17 to analyze the data. Results: The results show significant changes in the perceived ease of use (PEOU), facilitating conditions (FCs), and gerontology anxiety (GA), with the PEOU increasing by 19.87%, FC increasing by 20.63%, and GA decreasing by 17.2%. However, there was no significant change in the perceived usefulness (PU) and intention to use (IU). Conclusions: The results showing that the perception of technology acceptance changed significantly mean that the use of the care robot means that there is a high possibility of positive perceptions in Korean care settings when care robots are distributed in the field in the future, considering that the experimental environment was limited due to the early stage of development of care robots. This study highlights the need for practical demonstrations and thorough training to improve technology acceptance among care workers before the application of care technology in the long-term care environment in South Korea.