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Dissertation•DOI•

The Future is Now: The Potential of Service Robots in Elderly Care

Sandra M.A. Bedaf
01 Jan 2017-
TL;DR: This dissertation found that older people are more open to service robots than their caregivers or healthcare providers, and the social behaviour of the robot appears to play a significant role in its acceptance.
Abstract: Robots are booming business. A specific area that has generated considerable attention in recent years is the development of service robots for elderly care. A robot that can physically assist users in carrying out daily activities may help older people live independently for longer. This dissertation found that older people are more open to service robots than their caregivers or healthcare providers. The social behaviour of the robot appears to play a significant role in its acceptance, as does the robot's intelligence and ability to adapt to the user's needs and preferences.

Summary (2 min read)

Jump to: [Introduction] – [Method] – [Results] – [Interpersonal interaction & relationships related activities] – [Discussion] – [Study limitations] and [Conclusion]

Introduction

  • The population in many societies is aging.
  • Robots are seen to have the potential to support the care and independence of elderly people [5] .
  • In western societies sustaining independent living of elderly is preferred by most citizens and a target for societal policies.
  • Assistive technology (AT), such as wheelchairs, stair lifts, patient hoists, smart home technologies, and in general accessibility adaptations of the home, has come a long way in supporting individuals in their independence [3] .
  • One may be that robot developments often seem to be guided by the technical feasibility, the type and tasks a robot can perform and often too little attention is given to the actual needs and wishes of the targeted users [6, 7] .

Method

  • A systematic search of the scientific literature was performed to create an overview of robots which are potentially relevant for elderly care.
  • In the second round, two researchers (SB and KP) independently screened and scored all abstracts using the same inclusion and exclusion criteria as for scoring the titles.
  • A division was made, based on the information derived from articles and web pages, between robots with no physical prototype (group 1: concept phase), robots with a physical prototype for research purposes (group 2: under development), and for consumers' commercially available robots (group 3: for consumers' commercially available).
  • To deal with the variety of pertinent activities, the International Classification of Functioning (ICF) of the World Health Organization (WHO) was adopted to group activities human perform.
  • The Care-O-bot® reminds her to take her antibiotics and to keep her leg up on a stool when she returns to her chair after, for example, going to the toilet.

Results

  • The scientific literature search of the databases yielded an initial list of 4094 references .
  • No abstract could be retrieved for 22 selected titles, therefore only the titles of these 22 articles were presented in the abstract list.
  • In these full-text studies 168 different robots could be distinguished.
  • In one case the older person had recently passed away and in two cases the older person taken care of was recently institutionalized.
  • Different topics and areas of tension were discussed during the focus group sessions .

Discussion

  • The aim of this review was to investigate which robots are being developed to support the elderly in their independent living and to categorize these robots based on their progression toward market readiness and the activities they claim to support.
  • The assumption was that this would significantly differ between countries and was expected to influence the problems experienced and/or reported by the participants.
  • However the tasks a robot needs to carry out in order to be useful are often more difficult than first appears [12] .
  • The authors results from the informal carers and professional caregivers also suggest that changing health-related behaviour of older people may be challenging, as they can be quite stubborn and set in their ways.

Study limitations

  • Scientific literature from 1997 until November 2013, the references of this scientific literature, and relevant European projects were searched in order to collect the results presented in this paper.
  • The agreement between the reviewers for title assessment and abstract assessment was respectively substantial and moderate., which implies that publications may have been unjustly rejected.
  • Some of the conditions may even be age related.
  • Robots that were designed for a hospital or nursing home and robots that were not assigned to a single household (e.g., robots supporting care driving from apartment to apartment) were excluded.
  • The lack of information or outdated information on these robots may have led to inappropriate classification.

Conclusion

  • Many attempts are being made to develop robots that claim to support the elderly in their independent living.
  • In order to create a successful robot, the influence of the current care support available for elderly persons (e.g. home care support, the supply of institutional services) must be considered, too.
  • Participants recognized that a re-enablement robot coach introduces a tension between two different values: 'respect for autonomy' and 'promotion of independence'.
  • Implementing the functional features to perform various activities is therefore not the only challenge in robot development.
  • Secondly, the activities that can potentially compromise the independence of older adults were assessed through a literature study and focus group sessions with potential end users (i.e., older adults, informal caregivers and professional caregivers).

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The Future is Now
Citation for published version (APA):
Bedaf, S. M. A. (2017). The Future is Now: The Potential of Service Robots in Elderly Care. [Doctoral
Thesis, Maastricht University]. Datawyse / Universitaire Pers Maastricht.
https://doi.org/10.26481/dis.20171221sb
Document status and date:
Published: 01/01/2017
DOI:
10.26481/dis.20171221sb
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Download date: 09 Aug. 2022
The Future
is Now
The Potential of Service
Robots in Elderly Care
Sandra Bedaf
TheresearchpresentedinthisthesiswasfundedbytheEuropeanprojectAcceptablerobotiCsCOMPanionsfor
AgeiNgYears(ACCOMPANY)[grantagreementNo.287624]andZuydUniversityofAppliedSciences.
Coverdesign:StefanHensen
©copyrightSandraBedaf,Maastricht2017
Printing:Datawyse|UniversitairePersMaastricht
ISBN9789461597496

UNIVERSITAIRE
PERS MAASTRICHT
U
P
M
TheFutureisNow
ThePotentialofServiceRobotsinElderlyCare
DISSERTATION
toobtainthedegreeofDoctoratMaastrichtUniversity,
ontheauthorityoftheRectorMagnificus,Prof.Dr.RianneM.Letschert
inaccordancewiththedecisionoftheBoardofDeans,
tobedefendedinpublic
onThursday21December2017,at14.00hours
by
SandraBedaf

Supervisor
Prof.dr.L.P.deWitte
Co‐supervisors
Prof.dr.P.Marti(UniversityofSiena,Italy;TechnischeUniversiteitEindhoven)
dr.G.J.Gelderblom†(ZuydHogeschool,Heerlen)
AssessmentCommittee
Prof.dr.J.M.G.A.Schols(chairman)
Prof.dr.V.Evers(UniversiteitTwente)
Prof.dr.K.Horstman
Prof.dr.T.J.Prescott(UniversityofSheffield,TheUnitedKingdom)
Prof.dr.G.B.Weiss

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