Social Values of Care Robots

A Networked Intelligent Elderly Care Model Based on Nursing Robots to Achieve Healthy Aging

As global populations become increasingly aged, existing elderly care models are proving insufficient. The development and application of nursing robots have shown potential in addressing the challenges of elder care in aging societies. This perspective outlines current state and potential applications of nursing robots in promoting healthy aging. Given this background, a networked intelligent elderly care model for nursing robots, which integrates technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and nursing robotics, is proposed. This model would synergistically combine elderly health monitoring, capability assessment, and intelligent allocation functions to revolutionize global elderly care practices and promote healthy aging.

The effectiveness of care robots in alleviating physical burden and pain for caregivers: Non-randomized prospective interventional study - Preliminary study

BACKGROUND

Caregiver burden significantly affects both patients and caregivers but is often overlooked in clinical practice. Physical and emotional strain on caregivers can compromise the quality of care. Care robots are emerging as solutions to alleviate these burdens by assisting with routine tasks, thereby reducing caregivers' physical strain and stress. Therefore, a prospective, non-randomized, interventional clinical trial was designed to identify changes in caregivers' physical activities due to care robot use and explore the associated benefits.

METHODS

Twenty-two caregivers (1 male and 21 female; mean age, 62.05 years) were participated. We analyzed the impact of care robots on reducing physical burden and assessed caregivers' satisfaction with these robots by examining care activity history, pain levels, muscle activities, and data for each physical care activity (e.g., transfer, reposition, feeding, and toileting), categorizing them based on whether a care robot was used. Care robots that assist in transfer, repositioning, feeding, and toileting activities were used in a clinical trial. Muscle activity was measured during maximum voluntary isometric contraction using electromyography sensors placed on the upper trapezius, biceps brachii, and erector spinae muscles.

RESULTS

During care robot use, we observed a statistically significant decrease in the distance and number of steps required for assisting with repositioning. However, the caregiving activity time increased when the robots assisted with transfer, feeding, and toileting (P < .001). Pain was significantly reduced during transfer and toileting activities using the care robot (P < .001) as well as during feeding activity (P = .040). Maximum voluntary isometric contraction showed a significant reduction in the upper trapezius, biceps brachii, and erector spinae muscles during the 4 care activities when using the robot, and these findings were consistent across the 3 sessions (P < .001). In the survey, caregivers indicated that "transfer-assisting" care robots were the most needed (15 respondents, 68.2%).

CONCLUSION

In this study, we demonstrated that employing care robots can aid in mitigating muscle overuse among caregivers, potentially alleviating pain due to musculoskeletal conditions.

Technology Acceptance of Socially Assistive Robots Among Older Adults and the Factors Influencing It: A Meta-Analysis

The purpose of this study was to deeply understand older adults' acceptance of socially assistive robots and their influencing factors and to compare the strength of the correlation between each influencing factor variable and the acceptance. The literature search was performed in five databases from their inception to January 17, 2023. The meta-analysis was performed using Review Manager 5.4 and Stata 16.0 software. Thirteen papers were included in this study. The mean value of acceptability after using the inverse variance method was 3.68. Education level is strongly related to technology acceptance; perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, technology experience, technology attitude, perceived hedonism, and convenience are moderately related; anxiety is only weakly related.