Care robots for the supermarket shelf: a product gap in assistive technologies

Robotic misinformation in dementia care: emotions as sense-making resources in residents' encounters with robot animals

Robot animals, designed to mimic living beings, pose ethical challenges in the context of caring for vulnerable patients, specifically concerning deception. This paper explores how emotions become a resource for dealing with the misinformative nature of robot animals in dementia care homes. Based on observations of encounters between residents, care workers, and robot animals, the study shows how persons with dementia approach the ambiguous robots as either living beings, material artifacts, or something in-between. Grounded in interactionist theory, the research demonstrates that emotions serve as tools in the sense-making process, occurring through interactions with the material object and in collaboration with care workers. The appreciation of social robots does not solely hinge on them being perceived as real or fake animals; persons with dementia may find amusement in "fake" animals and express fear of "real" ones. This observation leads us to argue that there is a gap between guidelines addressing misinformation and robots and the specific context in which the technology is in use. In situations where small talk and play are essential activities, care workers often prioritize responsiveness to residents rather than making sure that the robot's nature is transparent. In these situations, residents' emotional expressions serve not only as crucial resources for their own sense-making but also as valuable indicators for care workers to comprehend how to navigate care situations.

Lost in the diffusion chasm: Lessons learned from a failed robot project in the public sector

Public sector organizations increasingly engage in robotic innovation projects to assist or substitute for humans in service delivery. However, transitioning small-scale development projects into a large-scale context is a notoriously difficult task that often fails, with many promising robotic projects becoming lost in the diffusion “chasm.” We investigate a failed robotic diffusion project to analyze what went wrong and what can be learned from it. Despite an increased interest in learning from public sector digitalization failure, little attention has been paid to how and why seemingly successful service robot initiatives fail to move beyond the pilot stage. We identify three types of explanations for diffusion failure using an in-depth case study of a service robot initiative in the Danish eldercare sector that had a high degree of management support and commitment from key stakeholders. Our analysis demonstrates how the failure was caused by interrelated and context-specific reasons regarding the lack of technological maturity of the service robot (technology-oriented explanations), inadequate problem-solution fit in the conceptual design (scope-oriented explanations), and misalignment between the robot company and public sector organization mindsets (competing logic-oriented explanations). We outline the lessons learned for public sector digitalization and discuss the paradox between the hype surrounding robot innovations and their slow diffusion.

Attitudes of the elderly living independently towards the use of robots to assist with activities of daily living

BACKGROUND

Robots are gaining attention as a potential solution to aging.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to explore the attitude of robot assistance in Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) among elderly people living independently.

METHODS

The one-on-one interview, buddy robot video and questionnaire survey were used to analyze mean, median, range, and the test results of non-parametric statistical methods such as Wilcoxon sign-rank test statistic and one-sample Wilcoxon sign-rank test statistic, so as to explore the attitude of the elderly living independently towards robot-assisted ADLs and the acceptance of the use of robots in 32 ADLs.

RESULTS

The results showed that there were significant differences in the attitudes, usability and ease of use of elderly people towards robot assistance before and after watching the Buddy Robot video and they had a more positive attitude after watching the video. According to the results, the elderly was more receptive to the use of robots in activities such as "reminding to carry objects" and "reminding to take medicine", while they were less receptive to the use of robots in the group or private activities such as "playing mahjong" and "taking a bath".

CONCLUSIONS

The results showed that the elderly had a positive attitude towards the use of robot-assisted ADLs, and there were differences in the acceptance of robot-assisted ADLs. The results are helpful to understand the assistance needs and attitudes of the elderly, and provide a reference for the design of assistive robots that meet user needs, and ultimately improve the ability of the elderly to live independently at home.

The relationship between formal and informal care among Chinese older adults: based on the 2014 CLHLS dataset

Background

The substitute or complementary effect of formal care on informal care service used by the elderly has been tested in Western countries. However, this effect is excluded from the discussion in the Chinese context. The identification of the relationship between informal care and formal care may imply different directions in policy-making. Thus, this study contributes to understanding the relationship between informal care and formal care among Chinese older adults.

Methods

Using the dataset from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) in 2014, this study uses regression models and instrumental variable (IV) method to examine the impact of formal care on informal care.

Results

The results primarily show that formal care does not substitute informal care among Chinese older adults. In fact, formal care is a supplement to informal care in China.

Conclusion

It is expected that informal care will become less available in the future in China. Thus, policymakers should be concerned about the underdevelopment of formal care for the elderly in China.

Informing Understandings of Mild Cognitive Impairment for Older Adults: Implications From a Scoping Review

The development of effective interventions for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults has been limited by extensive variability in the conceptualization and definition of MCI, its subtypes, and relevant diagnostic criteria within the neurocultural, pharmaceutical, and gerontological communities. A scoping review was conducted to explore the conceptual development of MCI and identify the resulting ethical, political, and technological implications for the care of older adults with MCI. A comprehensive search was conducted between January and April 2013 to identify English-language peer-reviewed articles published between 1999 and 2013. Our analysis revealed that the MCI conceptual debate remains unresolved, the response to ethical issues is contentious, the policy response is limited, and one-dimensional and technological interventions are scarce. Reflections on the conceptual, ethical, and policy responses in conjunction with the identification of the needs of older adults diagnosed with MCI highlight significant opportunities for technological interventions to effectively reposition MCI in the aging care discourse.

Bridging the digital divide in older adults: a study from an initiative to inform older adults about new technologies

Purpose

In a society where technology progresses at an exponential rate, older adults are often unaware of the existence of different kinds of information and communication technologies (ICTs). To bridge the gap, we launched a 2-year project, during which we conducted focus groups (FGs) with demonstrations of ICTs, allowing older adults to try them out and to share their opinions. This study aimed at investigating how participants perceived this kind of initiative and how they reacted to different kinds of ICTs.

Patients and methods

In total, 14 FGs were conducted with community-dwelling older adults, with a frequency of two FGs on the same topic once per trimester. Twenty-three older adults (four men and 19 women) attended at least one FG but only nearly half of them were regular attendants (ten participating in at least five sessions). Age of participants ranged from 63 years to 88 years, with a mean of 77.1 years. All of them had completed secondary education. The analyses of the data were performed according to inductive thematic analysis.

Results

Four overarching themes emerged from the analysis. The first concerned participants’ motivation for and assessment of the project. The second theme identified the underlying factors of the “digital divide” between the younger and the older generations. The third theme concerned the factors of technology adoption among older adults. The fourth one identified participants’ attitudes toward assistive ICTs, designed specifically for older adults (“gerontechnologies”).

Discussions and conclusion

This project encouraging older adults to be informed about different kinds of ICTs was positively rated. With regard to ICTs, participants perceived a digital divide. The underlying factors are generation/cohort effects, cognitive and physical decline related to aging, and negative attitudes toward technologies. However, more and more older adults adopt different kinds of ICTs in order to fit in with the society. Concerning assistive ICTs, they manifested a lack of perceived need and usefulness. Also, there was a negative image of end users of this kind of technologies. The so-called gerontechnologies specifically targeting older adults contain stigmatizing symbolism that might prevent them from adopting them.

Acceptance of an assistive robot in older adults: a mixed-method study of human-robot interaction over a 1-month period in the Living Lab setting

Background

There is growing interest in investigating acceptance of robots, which are increasingly being proposed as one form of assistive technology to support older adults, maintain their independence, and enhance their well-being. In the present study, we aimed to observe robot-acceptance in older adults, particularly subsequent to a 1-month direct experience with a robot.

Subjects and methods

Six older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and five cognitively intact healthy (CIH) older adults were recruited. Participants interacted with an assistive robot in the Living Lab once a week for 4 weeks. After being shown how to use the robot, participants performed tasks to simulate robot use in everyday life. Mixed methods, comprising a robot-acceptance questionnaire, semistructured interviews, usability-performance measures, and a focus group, were used.

Results

Both CIH and MCI subjects were able to learn how to use the robot. However, MCI subjects needed more time to perform tasks after a 1-week period of not using the robot. Both groups rated similarly on the robot-acceptance questionnaire. They showed low intention to use the robot, as well as negative attitudes toward and negative images of this device. They did not perceive it as useful in their daily life. However, they found it easy to use, amusing, and not threatening. In addition, social influence was perceived as powerful on robot adoption. Direct experience with the robot did not change the way the participants rated robots in their acceptance questionnaire. We identified several barriers to robot-acceptance, including older adults’ uneasiness with technology, feeling of stigmatization, and ethical/societal issues associated with robot use.

Conclusion

It is important to destigmatize images of assistive robots to facilitate their acceptance. Universal design aiming to increase the market for and production of products that are usable by everyone (to the greatest extent possible) might help to destigmatize assistive devices.