Anna Patience

Papers

Total Citations

304

H-Index

About

Driven by a deep commitment to improving the quality of life for our aging population, Anna Patience is a pioneering researcher in human-robot interaction and gerontechnology. Her work focuses on the critical intersection of user acceptance and robotic design, specifically investigating how older adults and care staff perceive and embrace healthcare robots. Her landmark 2011 study, “Attitudes towards health‐care robots in a retirement village,” which has garnered over 226 citations, provided foundational insights into the specific preferences and concerns of residents, relatives, and caregivers. This work, alongside her earlier influential 2009 study on task preferences (78 citations), revealed that successful robotic assistance depends not just on technical capability, but on aligning with the social and emotional needs of users. Patience’s research has been instrumental in shifting the field from a technology-centric to a human-centric approach, demonstrating that robots are most effective when they augment, rather than replace, human care. Her contributions are essential reading for anyone designing assistive technologies for an aging society.