# Social Robots in Hospitals: A Systematic Review
## 4 Discussion
Security issues such as privacy violations and privacy protection for individuals have been considered in the design [47; 65; 81]. _RQ2. What are the main uses and applications of social robots in healthcare?_  
Social robots can help with the global problem of the shortage of specialized medical personnel by doing several tasks [82], but their implementation in hospitals must be carried out conscientiously [23]. Robots have been used to quantify significant harm levels in autistic children, by professional caregivers of the elderly, to accompany the elderly while walking, to help persons with motor impairment (i.e., quadriplegia), to monitor and correct during rehabilitation for head, neck, and back pain [16; 36], and as a mediator in the interaction with the physician or nurse who performed the treatment [18]. Additionally, social robots can be rehabilitation therapists at home [20] or do administrative tasks,such as reception [29; 51] in hospitals [22; 60]. They have also been used for edutainment purposes [30; 70; 80]. Moreover, robots can remind people to take medications, they offer entertainment and memory games, and can be used for videoconferencing [63]. They can be used remotely, connecting the hospital and a patient's home [28; 69; 70]. Moreover, robots have been used to administer automatic questionnaires [52]. During the pandemic, social robots were employed for various purposes, such as the use of drones to enforce quarantine restrictions, alerting individuals to return to their homes, delivering medicine to patients with Covid-19 in Wuhan, and transferring test samples or helping with hospital admissions [6; 8; 10]. Additionally, mobile robots have been used for hospital logistics by sterilizing surfaces with UV light. Robots have been used to take temperature automatically using a thermal sensor. Social robots have reduced the loneliness of people and improved their mental health [8; 83]. In healthcare specifically, care workers reject the use of social robots due to their perceptions of their applications, which poses a challenge to the effective implementation of social robots in hospitals [22]. There are two groups where applications that rely on social robots are more widespread within the healthcare environment, namely the elderly and children. (a) Elderly  
The elderly can benefit from these assistive technologies. In [84], the researchers classify them as ICT (Information and Communication Technologies), Robotics, Telemedicine, Sensor Technology, Video games, and medication dispensing devices. They found that the studies targeted eight problems involving older adults: (1) dependent living (R), (2) fall risk, (3) chronic disease, (4) dementia, (5) social isolation (R), (6) depression (R), (7) poor wellbeing, and (8) poor medication management. (1), (5), and (6) were managed with help from social robots. Social robots have also been used for dementia rehabilitation in hospitals [37; 41; 44]. Robots have been used to improve quality of life and mood in the elderly, while reducing their loneliness [66]. Emotions are connected to social interactions [55]; this is the case for the elderly and (4) dementia patients [53; 56]. It is a promising field for the PARO robot [68] and exhibits both benefits and barriers [71]. PARO can support the psychosocial needs of the elderly related to inclusion, identity, attachment, occupation, and comfort [68]. When it comes to expressing emotion and inducing empathy, ARI employs a few body cues simultaneously, mainly: facial displays, body movement, posture, and vocal cues [21]. AIBO, PARO, AIBO, and iCat are considered SAR (Social Assistive Robot and Companion). Six thousand, four hundred assisting robots were sold worldwide in health care contexts in 2017. The challenge is to clarify the role of robots in health care and regulate the services they provide through norms and codes of ethics [22]. Hospital personnel must take on arduous tasks that are often repetitive and burdensome, for which they do not have enough time.