Infantalizing Robots for the Elderly

Not only children may be adversely affected by interactive robots but also the elderly...  

No to the infantalizing robot
by Martial Van der Linden and Anne-Claude Juillerat Van der Linden, Readers' Mail, Tribune de Genève, 14 June 2016

Certain EMS [homes for the elderly] in the canton have acquired or are planning to acquire, a roboticized baby seal named Paro costing 5,000 francs ($4,900).  This baby seal, which responds to caresses and can also show dissatisfaction would stimulate interactions of persons who have dementia, awakening their emotions and easing their anxiety...

Installation of Wi-Fi in Long-Term Care Homes

Sunrise of East Meadow has Wi-Fi in the bistro and livingroom where
residents, some quite ill, spend hours each day.

This excellent letter written by Lorraine Penner to the long-term care task force, City of Toronto, was originally posted in April 2012.  In her letter, she raises the issue of installation of Wi-Fi in long-term care homes.  At the assisted living place on Long Island (Sunrise) where my 98-year-old mother lives, Wi-Fi has been installed in the ground floor common areas of the home.  Many residents with serious health issues (dementia, diabetes, cardio-vascular problems...) spend much of the day in this area.  

Ms. Penner writes, "Many residents of long-term care homes are non-verbal, and unable to articulate the discomforts or suffering that they may be experiencing.  There has been no effort on the part of the long-term care home management to monitor the effects of wifi on the residents, or to  determine who might be the more electrosensitive among them. As someone  who finds it difficult to spend even two hours in the home since the  wireless technology began broadcasting, I find it most distressing that  the most vulnerable citizens among us should have this forced upon them.  I choose my words carefully and do not exaggerate when I say that for some of the residents, the constant exposure to rf radiation will be a form of torture. It is the most serious abuse and most serious violation of the rights of residents to safety and comfort..."