{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,8]],"date-time":"2026-08-08T09:38:43Z","timestamp":1786181923975,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":57,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,11]],"date-time":"2025-02-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1739232000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Research Institute"},{"name":"BC Children\u2019s Hospital Foundation"},{"name":"The University of British Columbia"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["MTI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Socially assistive robots are embodied technological artifacts that can interact socially with people. These devices are increasingly investigated as a means of mental health support in different populations, especially for alleviating loneliness, depression, and anxiety. While the number of available, increasingly sophisticated social robots is growing, their adoption is slower than anticipated. There is much effort to determine the effectiveness of social robots in various settings, including healthcare; however, little is known about the acceptability of these devices by the following distinct user groups: healthcare providers, parents, and children. To better understand the priorities and attitudes of social robot users, we carried out (1) a survey of parents and children who have previously been admitted to a hospital and (2) a series of three modified focus group meetings with healthcare providers. The online survey (n = 71) used closed and open-ended questions as well as validated measures to establish the attitudes of children and parents towards social human\u2013robot interaction and identify any potential barriers to the implementation of a robot intervention in a hospital setting. In the focus group meetings with healthcare providers (n = 10), we identified novel potential applications and interaction modalities of social robots in a hospital setting. Several concerns and barriers to the implementation of social robots were discussed. Overall, all user groups have positive attitudes towards interactions with social robots, provided that their concerns regarding robot use are addressed during interaction development. Our results reveal novel social robot application areas in hospital settings, such as rapport-building between patients and healthcare providers and fostering patient involvement in their own care. Healthcare providers highlighted the value of being included and consulted throughout the process of child\u2013robot interaction development to ensure the acceptability of social robots in this setting and minimize potential harm.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/mti9020014","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,11]],"date-time":"2025-02-11T05:34:32Z","timestamp":1739252072000},"page":"14","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Social Robot Interactions in a Pediatric Hospital Setting: Perspectives of Children, Parents, and Healthcare Providers"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Katarzyna","family":"Kabaci\u0144ska","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-2992-4166","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Katelyn A.","family":"Teng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Julie M.","family":"Robillard","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada"},{"name":"British Columbia Women\u2019s and Children\u2019s Hospital, Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Howard, A.M. (2013, January 22\u201324). Robots Learn to Play: Robots Emerging Role in Pediatric Therapy. Proceedings of the 26th International Florida Artificial Intelligence Research Society Conference, St. Pete Beach, FL, USA."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e018815","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2017-018815","article-title":"Scoping Review on the Use of Socially Assistive Robot Technology in Elderly Care","volume":"8","author":"Abdi","year":"2018","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Looije, R., Neerincx, M.A., and Peters, J. (2018, October 26). How Do Diabetic Children React on a Social Robot during Multiple Sessions in a Hospital?. Available online: https:\/\/api.semanticscholar.org\/CorpusID:15187974."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"599","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-016-0356-9","article-title":"A Motivational Approach to Support Healthy Habits in Long-Term Child\u2013Robot Interaction","volume":"8","author":"Ros","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"596","DOI":"10.1177\/1367493518803031","article-title":"Social Robots to Support Children\u2019s Well-Being under Medical Treatment: A Systematic State-of-the-Art Review","volume":"23","author":"Moerman","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Child. Health Care"},{"key":"ref_6","first-page":"919","article-title":"Socially Assistive Robots as Mental Health Interventions for Children: A Scoping Review","volume":"13","author":"Prescott","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"92","DOI":"10.1016\/j.appdev.2008.10.011","article-title":"Children\u2019s Behavior toward and Understanding of Robotic and Living Dogs","volume":"30","author":"Melson","year":"2009","journal-title":"J. Appl. Dev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jeong, S., Logan, D.E., Goodwin, M.S., Graca, S., O\u2019Connell, B., Goodenough, H., Anderson, L., Stenquist, N., Fitzpatrick, K., and Zisook, M. (2015, January 2\u20135). A Social Robot to Mitigate Stress, Anxiety, and Pain in Hospital Pediatric Care. Proceedings of the Tenth Annual ACM\/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction Extended Abstracts, Portland, OR, USA.","DOI":"10.1145\/2701973.2702028"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jeong, S., Breazeal, C., Logan, D., and Weinstock, P. (September, January 28). Huggable: Impact of Embodiment on Promoting Verbal and Physical Engagement for Young Pediatric Inpatients. Proceedings of the 2017 26th IEEE International Symposium on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), Lisbon, Portugal.","DOI":"10.1109\/ROMAN.2017.8172290"},{"key":"ref_10","unstructured":"Kimura, R., Abe, N., Matsumura, N., Horiguchi, A., Sasaki, T., Negishi, T., Ohkubo, E., and Naganuma, M. (2004, January 4\u20136). Trial of Robot Assisted Activity Using Robotic Pets in Children Hospital. Proceedings of the SICE 2004 Annual Conference, Sapporo, Japan."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2772","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vaccine.2013.03.056","article-title":"Reducing Children\u2019s Pain and Distress towards Flu Vaccinations: A Novel and Effective Application of Humanoid Robotics","volume":"31","author":"Beran","year":"2013","journal-title":"Vaccine"},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"436","DOI":"10.1089\/cyber.2012.0513","article-title":"Self-Other\u2019s Perspective Taking: The Use of Therapeutic Robot Companions as Social Agents for Reducing Pain and Anxiety in Pediatric Patients","volume":"16","author":"Okita","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cyberpsychol. Behav. Soc. Netw."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"811","DOI":"10.1080\/07347332.2024.2335170","article-title":"Social Robotics as an Adjuvant during the Hospitalization Process in Pediatric Oncology Patients","volume":"42","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Psychosoc. Oncol."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"343","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-017-0402-2","article-title":"Evaluating the Child\u2013Robot Interaction of the NAOTherapist Platform in Pediatric Rehabilitation","volume":"9","author":"Pulido","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1145\/3203304","article-title":"Adapting a General-Purpose Social Robot for Paediatric Rehabilitation Through In Situ Design","volume":"7","author":"Butchart","year":"2018","journal-title":"ACM Trans. Hum.-Robot. Interact."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Csala, E., N\u00e9meth, G., and Zaink\u00f3, C. (2012, January 2\u20135). Application of the NAO Humanoid Robot in the Treatment of Marrow-Transplanted Children. Proceedings of the 2012 IEEE 3rd International Conference on Cognitive Infocommunications (CogInfoCom), Kosice, Slovakia.","DOI":"10.1109\/CogInfoCom.2012.6421933"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"607","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-017-0421-z","article-title":"Assistive Robotic Technology to Combat Social Isolation in Acute Hospital Settings","volume":"10","author":"Sarabia","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ullrich, D., Diefenbach, S., and Butz, A. (2016, January 7\u201312). Murphy Miserable Robot: A Companion to Support Children\u2019s Well-Being in Emotionally Difficult Situations. Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems, San Jose, CA, USA.","DOI":"10.1145\/2851581.2892409"},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"Bainbridge, W.S. (2004). Berkshire Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, Berkshire Publishing Group LLC."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1080\/15710880701875068","article-title":"Co-Creation and the New Landscapes of Design","volume":"4","author":"Sanders","year":"2008","journal-title":"CoDesign"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1108\/JOSM-06-2021-0212","article-title":"Co-Creation in Healthcare: Framing the Outcomes and Their Determinants","volume":"34","author":"Fusco","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Serv. Manag."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"197","DOI":"10.1093\/pubmed\/fdz126","article-title":"Identifying Evidence of Effectiveness in the Co-Creation of Research: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the International Healthcare Literature","volume":"43","author":"Halvorsrud","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Public Health"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"461","DOI":"10.3233\/JAD-200214","article-title":"Realizing the Potential of Robotics for Aged Care Through Co-Creation","volume":"76","author":"Robillard","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Alzheimer\u2019s Dis."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"437","DOI":"10.1075\/is.7.3.14nom","article-title":"Measurement of Negative Attitudes toward Robots","volume":"7","author":"Nomura","year":"2006","journal-title":"Interact. Stud."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Tapus, A., Andr\u00e9, E., Martin, J.-C., Ferland, F., and Ammi, M. (2015). An Empathic Robotic Tutor for School Classrooms: Considering Expectation and Satisfaction of Children as End-Users. Proceedings of the Social Robotics, Springer International Publishing."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Kr\u00e4geloh, C.U., Alyami, M., and Medvedev, O.N. (2023). Godspeed Questionnaire Series: Translations and Usage. International Handbook of Behavioral Health Assessment, Springer International Publishing."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Creswell, J.W., and Creswell, J.D. (2022). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches, SAGE Publications, Inc.. [6th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Collins, E.C., Prescott, T.J., Mitchinson, B., and Conran, S. (2015). MIRO: A Versatile Biomimetic Edutainment Robot, ACM Press.","DOI":"10.1145\/2832932.2832978"},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"(2022, April 21). Companion Pet Cat. Available online: https:\/\/joyforall.com\/products\/companion-cats."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1191\/1478088706qp063oa","article-title":"Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology","volume":"3","author":"Braun","year":"2006","journal-title":"Qual. Res. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide Through Qualitative Analysis, SAGE."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"74","DOI":"10.2215\/CJN.05380518","article-title":"Patient and Caregiver Priorities for Outcomes in Peritoneal Dialysis: Multinational Nominal Group Technique Study","volume":"14","author":"Manera","year":"2019","journal-title":"Clin. J. Am. Soc. Nephrol."},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"130","article-title":"Attractions to Fuel the Imagination: Reframing Understandings of the Role of Distraction Relative to Well-Being in the Pediatric Hospital","volume":"12","author":"McLaughlan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Health Environ. Res. Des. J."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"836","DOI":"10.1097\/PEC.0b013e31818ea04c","article-title":"Emergency Department Waiting Room Stress: Can Music or Aromatherapy Improve Anxiety Scores?","volume":"24","author":"Holm","year":"2008","journal-title":"Pediatr. Emerg. Care"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"259","DOI":"10.3102\/0034654318821286","article-title":"Social Robots for Language Learning: A Review","volume":"89","author":"Verhagen","year":"2019","journal-title":"Rev. Educ. Res."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ragno, L., Borboni, A., Vannetti, F., Amici, C., and Cusano, N. (2023). Application of Social Robots in Healthcare: Review on Characteristics, Requirements, Technical Solutions. Sensors, 23.","DOI":"10.3390\/s23156820"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tanioka, T., Yokotani, T., Tanioka, R., Betriana, F., Matsumoto, K., Locsin, R., Zhao, Y., Osaka, K., Miyagawa, M., and Schoenhofer, S. (2021). Development Issues of Healthcare Robots: Compassionate Communication for Older Adults with Dementia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18094538"},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bj\u00f6rling, E.A., Xu, W.M., Cabrera, M.E., and Cakmak, M. (2019, January 14\u201318). The Effect of Interaction and Design Participation on Teenagers\u2019 Attitudes towards Social Robots. Proceedings of the 2019 28th IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN), New Delhi, India.","DOI":"10.1109\/RO-MAN46459.2019.8956427"},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e13981","DOI":"10.1111\/hex.13981","article-title":"The League: A Person-Centred Approach to the Development of Social Robotics for Paediatric Anxiety","volume":"27","author":"Dosso","year":"2024","journal-title":"Health Expect."},{"key":"ref_40","unstructured":"Cavallo, F., Cabibihan, J.-J., Fiorini, L., Sorrentino, A., He, H., Liu, X., Matsumoto, Y., and Ge, S.S. (2022). GeneRobot: How Participatory Development of Social Robots for Assisted Living Brings Generations Together. Proceedings of the Social Robotics, Springer Nature Switzerland."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1007\/s12369-019-00554-7","article-title":"Exploring University Students\u2019 Preferences for Educational Robot Design by Means of a User-Centered Design Approach","volume":"12","author":"Eyssel","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Soc. Robot."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e30337","DOI":"10.2196\/30337","article-title":"User-Centered Design of Companion Robot Pets Involving Care Home Resident-Robot Interactions and Focus Groups With Residents, Staff, and Family: Qualitative Study","volume":"8","author":"Bradwell","year":"2021","journal-title":"JMIR Rehabil. Assist. Technol."},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhong, V.J., and Schmiedel, T. (2021, January 8\u201311). A User-Centered Agile Approach to the Development of a Real-World Social Robot Application for Reception Areas. Proceedings of the Companion of the 2021 ACM\/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Boulder, CO, USA.","DOI":"10.1145\/3434074.3447132"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dosso, J.A., Kailley, J.N., Martin, S.E., and Robillard, J.M. (2023). \u201cA Safe Space for Sharing Feelings\u201d: Perspectives of Children with Lived Experiences of Anxiety on Social Robots. Multimodal Technol. Interact., 7.","DOI":"10.3390\/mti7120118"},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"685","DOI":"10.1007\/s11370-024-00523-8","article-title":"Robots in Healthcare as Envisioned by Care Professionals","volume":"17","author":"Soljacic","year":"2024","journal-title":"Intel. Serv. Robot."},{"key":"ref_46","first-page":"1","article-title":"Transparency about a Robot\u2019s Lack of Human Psychological Capacities: Effects on Child-Robot Perception and Relationship Formation","volume":"9","author":"Peter","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Hum.-Robot. Interact."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103063","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijhcs.2023.103063","article-title":"Transparent Robots: How Children Perceive and Relate to a Social Robot That Acknowledges Its Lack of Human Psychological Capacities and Machine Status","volume":"177","author":"Peter","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int. J. Hum.-Comput. Stud."},{"key":"ref_48","unstructured":"Prescott, A., and Rolillard, J. (2022, January 11\u201315). Designing Socially Assistive Robots: A Relational Approach. Proceedings of the ICCHP-AAATE 2022 Open Access Compendium\u201d Assistive Technology, Accessibility and (e) Inclusion\u201d, Lecco, Italy."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Semantha, F.H., Azam, S., Yeo, K.C., and Shanmugam, B. (2020). A Systematic Literature Review on Privacy by Design in the Healthcare Sector. Electronics, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/electronics9030452"},{"key":"ref_50","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Aldinhas Ferreira, M.I., Silva Sequeira, J., Tokhi, M.O., Kadar, E.E., and Virk, G.S. (2017). Reporting Robot Ethics for Children-Robot Studies in Contemporary Peer Reviewed Papers. A World with Robots: International Conference on Robot Ethics: ICRE 2015, Springer International Publishing. Intelligent Systems, Control and Automation: Science and Engineering.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-46667-5"},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101726","DOI":"10.1016\/j.techsoc.2021.101726","article-title":"The Ethical Issues of Social Assistive Robotics: A Critical Literature Review","volume":"67","author":"Boada","year":"2021","journal-title":"Technol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"309","DOI":"10.1007\/s10676-020-09573-9","article-title":"We Need to Talk about Deception in Social Robotics!","volume":"23","author":"Sharkey","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ethics Inf. Technol."},{"key":"ref_53","first-page":"479","article-title":"Social Robots and the Risks to Reciprocity","volume":"37","year":"2021","journal-title":"AI Soc."},{"key":"ref_54","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1109\/MRA.2010.940151","article-title":"Children, the Elderly, and Interactive Robots","volume":"18","author":"Sharkey","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Robot. Autom. Mag."},{"key":"ref_55","unstructured":"Turkle, S. (The Washington Post, 2017). Perspective | Why These Friendly Robots Can\u2019t Be Good Friends to Our Kids, The Washington Post."},{"key":"ref_56","unstructured":"Turkle, S. (2011). Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other, Basic Books."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1104","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jalz.2018.04.012","article-title":"Ethical Adoption: A New Imperative in the Development of Technology for Dementia","volume":"14","author":"Robillard","year":"2018","journal-title":"Alzheimer\u2019s Dement."}],"container-title":["Multimodal Technologies and Interaction"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-4088\/9\/2\/14\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T16:30:59Z","timestamp":1760027459000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-4088\/9\/2\/14"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,11]]},"references-count":57,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,2]]}},"alternative-id":["mti9020014"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mti9020014","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-4088"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2414-4088","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,2,11]]}}}