Which activities threaten independent living of elderly when becoming problematic: inspiration for meaningful service robot functionality

Humanoid robots for assisting people with physical disabilities in activities of daily living: a scoping review

The aim of this scoping review was to gather, summarize, and map the knowledge of peoples' experiences on humanoid robots, capable of assisting people with activities of daily living. The review was guided by the framework of Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA-ScR. We found 44 papers describing nine robots that could assist with a variety of tasks listed in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. The mixed population experienced little or no anxiety toward the robots, and most accepted the robots' ability to monitor for safety reasons. Some participants disliked the robots' large size and slow movements. Most of the participants found the robots easy to use. They wanted improvements in the robots' functionality and the ability to personalize services. Several of the participants found the services interesting and useful, but not for themselves. The experiences of humanoid robotic assistance showed an insufficient level of technical readiness for assisting in physical assistance, a lack of personalization and readiness for use in home settings. The practical relevance of these findings lies in guiding future research and development toward a more individualized approach focusing on user needs and experiences to enhance the efficacy and integration of humanoid robots in health-care.

The Use of Robotic Technology in the Healthcare of People above the Age of 65-A Systematic Review

AIM

The integration of robots can help provide solutions in regards to the need for an increase in resources in healthcare. The aim of this review was to identify how robots are utilized in the healthcare of people who are over the age of 65 and how this population experiences interacting with healthcare robots.

DESIGN

A systematic literature review with an integrated design was conducted.

METHODS

A literature search was performed in the electronic databases CINAHL via EBSCO, EMBASE, and Medline via Ovid. Content analysis was performed to assess the studies that were included in this review.

RESULTS

A total of 14 articles were included. Participants in the studies included 453 older people ranging from 65 to 108 years of age. Nine of the studies focused on people with dementia or cognitive impairment. Seven studies included different types of socially assistive human-like robots, six of the studies included two different types of animal-like robots, and one study focused on a robotic rollator. The robots mainly served as social assistive- or engagement robots.

The essential needs for home-care robots in Japan

Purpose

This study aims to compare the level of needs for home-care robots amongst older adults, family caregivers and home-care staff and clarify the factors constituting these needs.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional, anonymous questionnaire survey was administered. It included 52 items related to needs for home-care robots rated on a four-point Likert scale. Means and standard deviations were calculated, and the Kruskal-Wallis test was performed for each item. Factor analysis was conducted on the needs of home-care staff.

Findings

Responses from 79 older adults, 54 family caregivers and 427 home-care staff were analysed. For all three groups, the level of agreement was high for the following needs: to inform family and support personnel immediately when older adults fall, about their location in case of natural disasters and about mismanagement of fire by older adults with dementia. For family caregivers and home-care staff, the level of need concerning monitoring was higher than for older adults. Extracted using factor analysis, the six factors representing the essential needs for home-care robots were risk minimisation, daily monitoring of the physical condition, supporting activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental ADL, pre-empting problems, communication and miscellaneous support.

Originality/value

The results showed that the education of caregivers and the co-design process of robot development should involve home-care staff, older adults and family caregivers, which are important for making decisions about the use of home-care robots for older adults.

Impacts of a Care Robotics Project on Finnish Home Care Workers' Attitudes towards Robots

Technological advances in elderly care have been rapid, and the introduction of robots in care will be a topical issue in the near future. There has been little research into the possibility of influencing care workers’ attitudes towards robots by project activities, and how to make the change easier for work communities. This study focuses on a robotics project that took place in elderly and home care services in one municipality in Finland (total of 45 care workers). During the project, four robotics workshops and one extended pilot session were implemented. The study follows quasi-experimental settings, and it included two measurements (before and after project activities) and a control group, but no randomization. The data were collected by questionnaires and were analyzed statistically. The project under study brought about minor positive changes in home care workers’ attitudes towards the usefulness of care robots. In the final measurement, the difference between the test group and the control group was significant in the two dimensions of positive attitudes. The research supports the hypothesis that project activities can be used to influence home care workers’ attitudes towards robots. This can also facilitate the introduction of care robots in home care services. However, the construction of a technology-positive care culture is a long-term process, which requires training and development, technological development and strong strategic management at various levels.

Perceived Usefulness, Satisfaction, Ease of Use and Potential of a Virtual Companion to Support the Care Provision for Older Adults

This article reports a study aiming to determine the perceptions of older adults needing formal care about the usefulness, satisfaction, and ease of use of CaMeLi, a virtual companion based on an embodied conversational agent, and the perceptions of formal caregivers about the potential of virtual companions to support care provision. An observational study involving older adults needing formal care was conducted to assess CaMeLi using a multi-method approach (i.e., an auto-reported questionnaire—the Usefulness, Satisfaction, and Ease of use questionnaire; a scale for the usability assessment based on the opinion of observers—the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health-based Usability Scale; and critical incident registration). Moreover, a focus group was conducted to collect data regarding the perceived utility of virtual companions to support care provision. The observational study was conducted with 46 participants with an average age of 63.6 years, and the results were associated with a high level of usefulness, satisfaction, and ease of use of CaMeLi. Furthermore, the focus group composed of four care providers considered virtual companions a promising solution to support care provision and to prevent loneliness and social isolation. The results of both the observational study and the focus group revealed good perceptions regarding the role of virtual companions to support the care provision for older adults.

Exploring perceptions toward home-care robots for older people in Finland, Ireland, and Japan: A comparative questionnaire study

PURPOSE

To clarify potential users' perceptions toward the development and social implementation of home-care robots in Japan, Ireland, and Finland.

METHODS

Unsigned, self-administered questionnaires were distributed to adults aged 65 or older, family caregivers, and home-care/health and social care professionals (HSCPs). A total of 1004 responses were collected.

RESULTS

In Japan, many people were already familiar with robots in their daily lives. The most notable finding about their perspectives on home-care robots was related to safety. Moreover, 93.7 % of the Japanese respondents said, "If the user cannot decide whether to use a home-care robot, family members who know the user well should decide," followed by 76.4 % in Ireland and 83.1 % in Finland (p < .001). In Ireland, 81.8 % of the respondents said, "I want to help other people and society by participating in the research and development of home-care robots" (Japan: 69.9 %; Finland: 67.5 %) (p = .006). In Finland, many people had a negative impression of robots compared to the other two countries. Finland had the highest percentage (75.4 %) of respondents who said, "Health care professionals should be allowed to use secondary information collected by a home-care robot" (Japan and Ireland: 64 %) (p = .024). Moreover, Ireland and Finland emphasized the need to guarantee the entitlement to receive human care.

CONCLUSIONS

Devising optimal strategies for the development and social implementation of home-care robots by incorporating various perspectives while valuing human dignity will require examination of each country's characteristics with respect to history, culture, policies, and values related to robots.

Understanding the care and support needs of older people: a scoping review and categorisation using the WHO international classification of functioning, disability and health framework (ICF)

Background

The number of older people with unmet care and support needs is increasing substantially due to the challenges facing the formal and informal care system in the United Kingdom. Addressing these unmet needs is becoming one of the urgent public health priorities. In order to develop effective solutions to address some of these needs, it is important first to understand the care and support needs of older people.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted, using the Arksey and O’Malley original and enhanced framework, to understand the care and support needs of older people, focusing on those living at home with chronic conditions in the UK. The search was conducted using five electronic data bases, grey literature and reference list checks. The WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework was used to analyse and categorise the literature findings.

Results

Forty studies were included in the final analysis- 32 from academic literature and 8 from grey literature. The review highlighted that older adults faced a range of physical, social and psychological challenges due to living with chronic conditions and required care and support in three main areas: 1) social activities and relationships; 2) psychological health; and 3) activities related to mobility, self-care and domestic life. The review also highlighted that many older people demonstrated a desire to cope with their illness and maintain independence, however, environmental factors interfered with these efforts including: 1) lack of professional advice on self-care strategies; 2) poor communication and coordination of services; and 3) lack of information on services such as care pathways. A gap in the knowledge was also identified about the care and support needs of two groups within the older population: 1) older workers; and 2) older carers.

Conclusions

The review highlighted that older people living with chronic conditions have unmet care needs related to their physical and psychological health, social life, as well as the environment in which they live and interact. Findings of this review also emphasized the importance of developing care models and support services based around the needs of older people.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12877-019-1189-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Towards a Holistic Approach to Studying Human-Robot Interaction in Later Life

Background and Objectives

Implementation of robotics technology in eldercare depends on successful human-robot interaction (HRI). Relying on a systematic literature review, this article proposes a holistic approach to the study of such interaction.

Research Design and Methods

A literature search was carried out in five databases. A Boolean phrase search included the term robot and at least one term referencing older age, leading to an initial corpus of 543 articles. Articles were included in this review if they described older adults' interaction with robots. Exclusion of articles that did not meet this criterion, as well as duplicate material, led to a total of 80 articles, that were then subjected to quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Results

Studies tended to focus on older users, typically community-dwelling adults, without sufficient consideration of the users' characteristics and the physical, social, and cultural context of the HRI. Using a variety of methods, many studies were snapshot inquiries. The chief topics explored were use patterns, the resulting outcomes thereof and factors that constrain use. Commonly, however, these topics were examined separately. In addition, most studies lacked any theoretical framework.

Discussion and Implications

Additional studies are needed to more fully understand what makes HRI successful. The model presented here suggests scholars to conduct theory-driven research, and distinguish among various segments of older users, different types of robots, and group and individual HRI. It also proposes paying greater attention to the users' cultural, physical and social environment, and application of longitudinal and simultaneous examination of uses, outcomes, and constraints.

Care Personnel's Attitudes and Fears Toward Care Robots in Elderly Care: A Comparison of Data from the Care Personnel in Finland and Japan

PURPOSE

The aim of the study was to analyze and compare elderly care personnel attitudes toward care robots in Finland and Japan.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey in Finland and Japan.

METHODS

The Finnish sample was collected from care personnel in home care facilities in five municipalities in 2016. The Japanese sample was collected from personnel in two rehabilitative day centers and three residential care homes for the elderly in the north of Honshu Island in 2017. The data were analyzed using basic statistical methods and calculated descriptive statistics (frequencies). Differences between the Finnish and Japanese data have been analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test.

FINDINGS

Overall, Japanese care personnel assessed the usefulness of robots more positively than did their Finnish counterparts. The data showed substantial national differences in the perceived importance of various potential tasks for care robots. The findings show that there are also certain fears related to the introduction of care robots, in particular among the Finnish care personnel.

DISCUSSION

The data from the Japanese care personnel bring new perspectives to the concept of a close human-robot relationship. The differences seen in the results between Finland and Japan can be partly explained by cultural dissimilarity, but it is also known that Japan is a more developed country with regard to the use of robotics in nursing care. The research highlights the importance of cultural factors when examining the issue of care robotics. The factors affecting fear are a concern that care robots would be used to replace people, the dehumanization of treatment, and an increased loneliness in the elderly. Thus, further research is required to demonstrate the relationship between different cultural factors, and attitudes and conceptions toward care robots.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Management plays a key role when implementing robotics. It is important to help care personnel accept care robots, and to diminish any fears that their introduction would make the treatment of elderly people inhumane or in some way add to their loneliness. As such, education is crucial in changing attitudes and making care personnel understand that care robots can perform routine tasks, allowing care personnel to focus on providing improved care and nursing.

When robots care: Public deliberations on how technology and humans may support independent living for older adults

While assistive robots receive growing attention as a potential solution to support older adults to live independently, several scholars question the underlying social, ethical and health policy assumptions. One perplexing issue is determining whether assistive robots should be introduced to supplement caregivers or substitute them. Current state of knowledge indicates that users and caregivers consider that robots should not aim to replace humans, but could perform certain tasks. This begs the question of the nature and scope of the tasks that can be delegated to robots and of those that should remain under human responsibility. Considering that such tasks entail a range of actions that affect the meaning of caregiving and care receiving, this article offers sociological insights into the ways in which members of the public reason around assistive actions, be they performed by humans, machines or both. Drawing on a prospective public deliberation study that took place in Quebec (Canada) in 2014 with participants (n = 63) of different age groups, our findings clarify how they envisage what robots can and cannot do to assist older people, and when and why delegating certain tasks to robots becomes problematic. A better understanding of where the publics draw a limit in the substitution of humans by robots refocuses policymakers' attention on what good care entails in modern healthcare systems.

What are the preferred characteristics of a service robot for the elderly? A multi-country focus group study with older adults and caregivers

This multi-perspective study focuses on how a service robot for the elderly should behave when interacting with potential users. An existing service robot and a scenario were used as a concrete case, which was discussed and analyzed during focus group sessions with older adults (n = 38), informal caregivers (n = 24), and professional caregivers (n = 35) in the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom. A total of seven topics-privacy, task execution, environment, appearance, behavior, visitors, and communication-were explored. The results showed that some of the characteristics mentioned were unique to a user group, but several were cross-cutting. Overall, potential users expected the service robot to be customizable in order to match the users' needs and preferences. Also, high expectations concerning its functioning and behavior were expressed, which sometimes could even be compared to the qualities of a human being. This emphasizes the complexity of service robot development for older adults, and highlights the need for a personalized and flexible solution. One size does not fit all, and specific attention should be paid to the development of the robot's social behavior and skills beyond a mere functional support for the person.

Attitudes towards care robots among Finnish home care personnel - a comparison of two approaches

STUDY'S RATIONALE

The significance of care robotics has been highlighted in recent years.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE

The article examines the adoption of care robots in home care settings, and in particular Finnish home care personnel's attitudes towards robots. The study compares the importance of the Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale advanced by Nomura and specific positive attitudes related to the usefulness of care robots for different tasks in the home care.

METHODOLOGICAL DESIGN

A cross-sectional study conducted by questionnaire. The research data were gathered from a survey of Finnish home care personnel (n = 200).

RESEARCH METHODS

Exploratory factor analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis.

MEASURES

The Negative Attitudes towards Robots Scale (NARS), by Nomura, with a specific behavioural intention scale based on Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour, and a measure of positive attitudes towards the usefulness of care robots for different tasks in home care and the promotion of independent living of older persons.

RESULTS

The study shows that NARS helps to explain psychological resistance related to the introduction of care robots, although the scale is susceptible to cultural differences. Care personnel's behavioural intentions related to the introduction of robot applications are influenced also by the perception of the usefulness of care robots.

STUDY LIMITATIONS

The study is based only on a Finnish sample, and the response rate of the study was relatively small (18.2%), which limits the generalisability of the results.

CONCLUSIONS

The study shows that the examination of home care personnel's attitudes towards robots is not justified to focus only on one aspect, but a better explanation is achieved by combining the perspectives of societal attitudes, attitudes related to psychological reactions and the practical care and promotion of the independent living of older people.