Dignity or degradation: The risks and realities of carebots in Quebec

The use of robots in elder care has been a topic of debate in ethics for the last twenty years. Care robots (carebots) present an opportunity to improve health outcomes for those in long term care by facilitating patients’ independence and reducing the workload on caregivers. However, many existing carebot projects have the potential to do harm, both on an individual and societal level. In this paper, the author examines the ethical implications of deploying carebots in the context of Quebec Public Health with a focus of the potential consequences of use in residential and long-term care centers (CHSLDs). The author connects the ethical principles that have been adopted by Quebec Public Health with the ethical discourse surrounding care robots, discusses the way Quebec Public Health adopts technology, then analyzes the relevance of various care robot projects. The result is a set of guidelines for the deployment of carebots in Quebec care homes.