Promoting Human and Planetary Health Simultaneously by Addressing Sustainability on an Holistic, Multidimensional Level in the Design and use of Sars in Healthcare

Digitalization of healthcare is well under way, though far from being fully realized. Socially assistive robots (SARs) are being discussed as possible solutions to urgent, global health challenges, such as insufficient numbers of care providers to meet increasing client care needs. At the same time, large parts of the world are working to stop climate change and adapt to its tangible consequences. The objective is to meet the goal of the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2, but preferably to 1.5, degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. The EU visualizes net zero greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century while others have set an earlier date. In this short paper, we discuss the connection between addressing challenges in healthcare on the one hand and climate change on the other. The purpose is to suggest adding sustainability to the design and evaluation toolbox when developing SARs and considering their implementation in healthcare. In addition, we argue that a holistic, multidimensional take on sustainability is essential, and we discuss how sustainability may be addressed in HRI in healthcare.