PRE2019 4 Group7

Group members

Student Group

Name	Student number	Email	Bachelor
Eline Visser	1375369	e.a.l.visser@student.tue.nl	Applied Physics
Metten de Lange	1240902	m.m.d.lange@student.tue.nl	Applied Physics
Vera Holtmark van Dijkerhof	1380893	v.holtmark.van.dijkerhof@student.tue.nl	Applied Physics
Sterre Cuppens	1387790	s.cuppens@student.tue.nl	Psychology and Technology
Iris de Wit	1258230	i.c.d.wit@student.tue.nl	Psychology and Technology

State of the Art

Socially Assistive Robots in Elderly Care: A Systematic Review into Effects and Effectiveness

The ongoing development of technology, specifically robots, against the background of a decreasing number of care personnel raises the question of what the potential contribution of robotics could be in rationalizing and maintaining, or even improving the quality of elderly care. Robots can contribute to health care support in terms of capacity, quality (performing very accurately and task specific), finance (support or even take over tasks of trained personnel), and experience (e.g., increased feeling of autonomy and self management). The idea of robotics playing a role in health care was launched some decades ago and has mainly been developed for physical training in rehabilitation as well as personal assistance for tasks of activities of daily living. Robotic applications supporting social behavior are a more recent development. So far, systems have been developed supporting child’s play and care for elderly with dementia. However, the uptake of these systems in care practice has been limited. One of the reasons is that there appears to be a mismatch between what is technically developed and the perceived needs within care environments.The term SIR was introduced to distinguish these robots from other robots that involve “conventional” human robot interaction, such as in tele-operation scenarios. In SIR, the robot’s goal is to develop close and effective interactions with a human for the sake of interaction itself. In contrast, in SAR, these systems are not designed to help the human being performing work tasks or saving time in routine activities, but to give assistance through social interaction to achieve progress in, for example, convalescence,rehabilitation, and learning. As such, SAR is a subsection of SIR.

Scoping review on the use of socially assistive robot technology in elderly care

With an elderly population that is set to more than double by 2050 worldwide, there will be an increased demand for elderly care. The shift in societal proportions will place new pressures on all aspects of elderly care. Loneliness, for instance, is a consequence of social, psychological and personal factors. Over half of people over the age of 75 live alone and 17% of older people see family, friends or neighbours less than once a week. A recent meta-analysis showed that the impact of loneliness and isolation carries the same mortality risk as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This poses several impediments in the delivery of high-quality health and social care. Socially assistive robot (SAR) technology could assume new roles in health and social care to meet this higher demand. These are robots adept at completing a complex series of physical tasks with the addition of a social interface capable of convincing a user that the robot is a social interaction partner. Five roles of SAR were identified: affective therapy, cognitive training, social facilitator, companionship and physiological therapy.