The topic of care and support for people with dementia is currently of enormous importance in the social, political and (care) scientific discussion. In this context, the topic of assistance robotics is still hardly present in scientific studies.

When talking about robots in care, it is preferably about service robots. This refers to robots that support nursing staff (and in future perhaps also relatives in the home setting) in the care and support of people with dementia by taking over routine tasks (e.g. serving drinks) beyond the direct work on people. As a rule, it is mentioned rather casually in descriptions of the robots that robotic assistance systems can also take over entertainment functions for people with dementia.

The question of the possibilities of a targeted use of robotic assistance systems in the context of emotion-oriented care and support for people with dementia is virtually not addressed or discussed - and above all not scientifically examined. The ethical questions that arise in this context are also of great importance.

The EmoRobot project aims to explore the use of robotic assistance systems to support the care of people who are in various stages of dementia.

In a living centre for people with dementia, an interdisciplinary group of researchers from the universities of Fulda, St. Gallen, Bonn-Rhein-Sieg and the Technical University of Dortmund is focusing on robotic assistance systems.

On the one hand, the project aims to make statements about the (potential) suitability of (robotic) assistance systems - virtual or physical - with regard to the maintenance, respectively the (re-)creation and promotion of well-being, independence, self-determination and the sense of security of persons with dementia. On the other hand, it will be empirically investigated which requirement profiles can be derived for robotic assistance systems.

A central issue is which ethical questions arise in this context. People with dementia are a particularly vulnerable group. Involving these people in projects and interventions requires special attention and care for them and their protection. It must be ensured that the ethical justifiability of interventions is critically examined and questioned for each person and situation. The research group has already addressed these ethical issues in advance and taken precautions to protect the persons. Among other things, an internal expert is involved as a permanent supervisor and an external ethics officer is appointed for the project. The project application was submitted to the ethics committee of the German Society for Nursing Science for review - ethical clearance was granted.

The project is designed as a method-plural ethnography with the approach of a qualitative-experimental study and uses a two-group pre-post design with a cross-over. The analysis of the data uses a sociological-hermeneutic approach.

Ziegler, S./Beer, T./Füller, M./ Bleses, H.M. (2015): The alienation of the stranger. Exploring strangeness and person orientation in the use of robotics in the care of persons with dementia. Pflegezeitschrift, 68 (12)

Hülsken-Giesler, M./Bleses, HM. (2015): Focus: New technologies in care. In: Pflege & Gesellschaft, 20. Jg., H 1, S. 3-4.

Beer, T./Bleses, H. M./Ziegler, S. (2015): "Persons with dementia and robotic assistance systems - Ethnographic explorations of marginal actors in care". In: Pflege & Gesellschaft, 20. Jg., H 1, pp. 20 - 36.

Ziegler, S./Treffurth, T./Bleses, HM. (2015): According to the (presumed) will!? Ethical requirements in the involvement of vulnerable persons (using the example of persons with dementia) in scientific projects for research into emotion-oriented care and support with robotic assistance systems. In: Pflege & Gesellschaft, 20. Jg., H1, pp. 37 - 52.

Beer T./Ziegler, S./Bleses, HM (2015): "Technical assistance systems as caregiver collaborators. The robot as friend and companion", in Curaviva (86) 1, pp. 22-25.

Beer, T./Bleses, H. (2014). People with dementia and robotic assistance systems - agents on the margin of society? 29th International Conference of Alzheimer's Disease International. www.alz.co.uk/sites/default/files/conf2014/OC011.pdf (retrieved 30.10.2014)

Beer, T./Bleses, H./Ziegler, S. (2014): Persons with dementia and robotic assistance systems - Robotic assistance systems in emotion-oriented care and support. Abstract accepted for the symposium S414-04 of the 12th Congress of the DGGG "Stress and Ageing - Opportunities and Risks, Halle 24-27 September 2014.