Guide
If a care home tells you it uses companion or assistive robots, it is natural to have questions and entirely reasonable to ask them. This checklist sets out the practical questions worth putting to the home, so you can understand what the technology does and satisfy yourself that your relative is well looked after.
Finding out that a relative's care home uses robots can prompt a mix of curiosity and unease. Both are reasonable. The good news is that you do not need any technical knowledge to ask the questions that matter. A well-run care home will welcome them and answer plainly, because openness is a sign of good care. This guide gives you a clear checklist to work through, whether you are choosing a home or your relative already lives in one.
A note: this is general information, not care or medical advice. Decisions about your relative's care should involve them wherever possible, the care home, and qualified professionals who know their situation.
Start by understanding what you are dealing with, because the word robot covers very different things. Most technology in UK care homes today is companion and communication technology, not a mobile humanoid that performs physical tasks. Ask the home to describe, in ordinary language, what the device does day to day.
Using a device should be a choice for your relative, not a condition of living in the home. This matters especially where a relative may find it hard to say what they want.
Where a resident may lack the capacity to decide, the Mental Capacity Act framework applies, and any decision should be made in their best interests and documented. You are entitled to ask how that was done.
The concern many families share is whether technology reduces the human contact their relative needs. It is a fair question to raise directly.
A good answer will make clear that the technology supports care rather than substituting for it. Our guide on whether robots are replacing carers looks at this question in more depth.
Some devices record voice, video or activity. Because this is your relative's home, their privacy matters, and you are entitled to understand what is collected.
For the detail behind these questions, see our guide to care robot data protection and privacy in the UK.
Finally, it is worth understanding who is accountable and how the home manages the technology safely.
A confident, well-run home will answer these without hesitation. If the answers feel vague or defensive, that is a reason to keep asking until you are satisfied.
If you are a family member weighing up a care home that uses robot technology and you would like to understand the sector better, write to us at hello@humanoidrobotcare.co.uk. We are an independent information service, not a vendor and not a regulated care advice line, so we can help you understand what the technology realistically does and does not do. For decisions about your relative's care, speak to the care home and to qualified professionals who know their situation.
Common questions
Ask what the device actually does day to day, whether it is a companion communication device or something more, and whether your relative has agreed to use it. Ask how it fits around human care rather than replacing it, what data it records and who can see that data, whether your relative can decline or stop using it, and who is responsible if something goes wrong. A good care home will answer plainly and will be comfortable with the questions. Vague or defensive answers are a reason to keep asking.
Yes. Using a companion or assistive robot should be a choice, not a condition of care. Where a resident has the capacity to decide, they can decline or stop at any time. Where a resident may lack the capacity to consent, any decision has to be made in their best interests under the Mental Capacity Act, involving those close to them, and it should be documented. A care home should never present a device as compulsory, and you are entitled to ask that it is not used if your relative does not want it.