Robotics to Enable Older Adults to Remain Living at Home

Abstract

Given the rapidly ageing population, interest is growing in robots to enable older people to remain living at home. We conducted a systematic review and critical evaluation of the scientific literature, from 1990 to the present, on the use of robots in aged care. The key research questions were as follows: (1) what is the range of robotic devices available to enable older people to remain mobile, independent, and safe? and, (2) what is the evidence demonstrating that robotic devices are effective in enabling independent living in community dwelling older people? Following database searches for relevant literature an initial yield of 161 articles was obtained. Titles and abstracts of articles were then reviewed by 2 independent people to determine suitability for inclusion. Forty-two articles met the criteria for question 1. Of these, 4 articles met the criteria for question 2. Results showed that robotics is currently available to assist older healthy people and people with disabilities to remain independent and to monitor their safety and social connectedness. Most studies were conducted in laboratories and hospital clinics. Currently limited evidence demonstrates that robots can be used to enable people to remain living at home, although this is an emerging smart technology that is rapidly evolving.

Information Technology to Support Aging

“…Service robots include commercialized domestic machines, such as self-navigating vacuum cleaners and mops (Kuzma, 2006), but also robotic pets that apply pet therapy principles to assist older people to maintain mobility and stay active when having real pets is not an option (e.g., due to a residential policy or the inability of a resident to continuously care for a pet) (Carelli, Gaggioli, Pioggia, de Rossi, & Riva, 2009). Pearce, Adair, and Miller (2012) conducted a systematic review to identify the breadth of robotic applications to support older adults living at home and the evidence of their effectiveness. The majority of robotic studies in the home focus on lower-limb "exoskeleton" technologies.…”

“…The review by Pearce et al (2012) highlights that only four investigations tested robots within a home, residential-care setting, or simulated home environment. These studies demonstrated that robots have the potential to assist older people with mobility issues around the home environment.…”

Assistive living robot

“…These range from robots that can fetch objects in home environment [8], to an overhanging robot arm that can assist in walking and carrying daily necessities [13] to a telepresence robot for homecare assistance [14].Commercial robots are also widely available. These are either derived from military robots or specifically designed as assistive robots.…”

“…The most significant issues were highlighted in a 2012 literature survey of 161 English articles that describe these robots [8], which are: cost (many of these robots are expensive, creating a disparity for those with limited socioeconomic resources) and limited understanding of home-based assistive robots (while military and industrial robotics are well-developed, much less is known regarding the home environment of older adults).…”

Human-friendly robotic manipulators: safety and performance issues in controller design

“…Di↵erent social and economic factors such as surge in the number of aging population, choice of home care over nursing homes and increased health care cost of home care are driving the need for domestic robots that can serve in home environments [148]. Cleaning and delivery service around o ce environments also broaden the possible applications of such domestic robots and pave the way for a new commercialization area in robotics [8].…”