Therapists’ perspective on acceptance of robot-assisted physical rehabilitation in a middle-income country: a study from Vietnam

Abstract

Robot-assisted physical rehabilitation offers promising benefits for patients, yet its adoption among therapists remains a complex challenge. This study investigates the acceptance of robot-assisted physical rehabilitation technology among therapists in Vietnam, a middle-income country with a growing demand for rehabilitation services. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model 2 (TAM2) and the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB), an online survey and semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore therapists’ attitudes and intentions towards using this technology. The results show that Vietnamese therapists recognised its potential benefits and expressed a willingness to use it. Although having similar acceptance patterns compared to developed regions, they demonstrated significantly higher levels of agreement across acceptance constructs. This may be attributed to factors such as the novelty effect, cultural perceptions of robots, and the high workload of therapists in Vietnam. Gender and location were found to influence two acceptance constructs–subjective norms and image, respectively–highlighting the need for tailored strategies in technology implementation. The study underscores the importance of considering socio-cultural factors in the adoption of technology and provides insights for enhancing the acceptance and effectiveness of robot-assisted physical rehabilitation in Vietnam. This contributes to the global understanding of therapist acceptance of technology in this field.

IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION

• While robot-assisted physical rehabilitation offers promising benefits, there is limited understanding of therapist acceptance on a global scale, highlighting the need for more research in this area.

• This study in a middle-income country, Vietnam, reveals a generally positive view among therapists, but specific issues such as the novelty effect, cultural perceptions of robots, and high therapist workload impact acceptance levels, indicating the need for tailored strategies.

• Strategies for implementing robot-assisted physical rehabilitation should include addressing training needs, providing technological support, and considering sociocultural factors to enhance acceptance and effectiveness.

Keywords:

• Technology acceptance
• robot-assisted rehabilitation
• therapists
• low- and middle-income countries
• Vietnam
• TAM2
• TPB 

Acknowledgement

The author would like to sincerely thank the therapists who participated in the survey and interviews, contributing valuable insights to this study.

Ethical approval

The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the College Council of the College of Engineering, Can Tho University (TBK.15012024), on 15 January 2024. Informed consents were obtained by all participants.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes

1 Introduction video in Vietnamese with English subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTwr-gB01aI&hl=en&cc_lang_pref=en&cc_load_policy=1.

Additional information

Funding

There is no funding linked to the research presented in this article.