Assistive Robots for the Social Management of Health: A Framework for Robot Design and Human–Robot Interaction Research

Abstract

There is a close connection between health and the quality of ones social life. Strong social bonds are essential for health and wellbeing, but often health conditions can detrimentally affect a persons ability to interact with others. This can become a vicious cycle resulting in further decline in health. For this reason, the social management of health is an important aspect of healthcare. We propose that socially assistive robots (SARs) could help people with health conditions maintain positive social lives by supporting them in social interactions. This paper makes three contributions, as detailed below. We develop a framework of social mediation functions that robots could perform, motivated by the special social needs that people with health conditions have. In this framework we identify five types of functions that SARs could perform: a) changing how the person is perceived, b) enhancing the social behavior of the person, c) modifying the social behavior of others, d) providing structure for interactions, and e) changing how the person feels. We thematically organize and review the existing literature on robots supporting human-human interactions, in both clinical and non-clinical settings, and explain how the findings and design ideas from these studies can be applied to the functions identified in the framework. Finally, we point out and discuss challenges in designing SARs for supporting social interactions, and highlight opportunities for future robot design and HRI research on the mediator role of robots.

Internet of Things and Robotics in Transforming Current-Day Healthcare Services

“…The models created will help the robot to interact with the patient both verbally and nonverbally [ 34 ]. In a recent study [ 35 ], the authors have reported the development of a socially assistive robot that enables people to maintain not only their health condition but also support them during social interaction. The designed robot can help the patients to improve their perception ability, social behavior, and provide structure for interaction.…”

“…The designed robot can help the patients to improve their perception ability, social behavior, and provide structure for interaction. Furthermore, it can also change the feeling of a person [ 35 ]. Sharif and Alsibai have developed a “Nao Robot” that can analyze the medical data and interact with patients.…”

Intentional Observational Clinical Research Design: Innovative Design for Complex Clinical Research Using Advanced Technology

“…HRI studies of robots intervening in human-human interactions vary widely in their scope, and are scattered across domains of application, using very different robot designs in various contexts. However, some of these studies were conducted in lab settings while others were in more naturalistic settings such as nursing homes [27].…”

Robots and the Possibility of Humanistic Care

“…These prospects raise several related but different questions. One is the empirical question of the technological and practical possibilities of care robots and their effects on human beings, as investigated in fields like social robotics and human–robot interaction (HRI) [ 2 – 7 ]. Another concerns the social and ethical dangers and benefits of robots, particularly ones that increasingly resemble humans, undertaking care work [ 8 – 18 ].…”