A case study on AI and robot‐assisted psychoeducational support for Alzheimer’s caregivers

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundMore than 6.2 million older Americans live with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Dementia care is mostly provided by family or friends. This long‐duration, time‐intensive care can negatively impact caregivers’ physical and mental health. Dementia caregivers often feel unprepared for their roles. Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregiver Health: Offering Useful Treatments (REACH OUT) interventions have been shown to improve caregivers’ health. However, it is challenging and resource‐intensive to implement such interventions in real‐world settings. Artificial intelligence and robotics demonstrate the potential to assist delivering intervention and support caregivers.MethodWe developed a Friendly AI‐ and Robotics‐based REACH (FAIR‐REACH) program to deliver a modified version of REACH OUT using a friendly humanoid social robot, Pepper. FAIR‐REACH included five modules: introduction to AD/ADRD and caregiving, safety information, healthy lifestyle guide, stress and relaxation, and caregiving challenges. The robot delivered the program using multimodal presentation, including a touchscreen tablet, verbal and nonverbal communication. In each module, a list of topics were displayed on Pepper’s tablet for users to choose. Approaches were employed to enable Pepper to deliver interventions engagingly, interactively, and empathetically. After supplying information on the chosen topic, the robot asked users a question relevant to the content and provided a follow‐up comment. We tested FAIR‐REACH on 2 participants and used questionnaires to assess acceptance and user experience.ResultThe participants were 1 female and 1 male, both aged 65‐75. P1 previously worked as a paid in‐home caregiver. P2 currently acts as an informal caregiver. Both participants believed that FAIR‐REACH were useful for dementia caregivers. The program was perceived as easy to use. The robot’s appearance was pleasing to participants and the tablet designs (e.g., layout) were attractive to them. Participants provided suggestions on the robot’s functions, for example, speaking more slowly, talking with caregivers more interactively, and answering caregivers’ questions.ConclusionIn the case study, the FAIR‐REACH was perceived as easy to use and helpful. The future work includes refining FAIR‐REACH to improve user experience according to the feedback/suggestions collected from the case study and assessing the feasibility, Usability, and effectiveness with a large number of dementia caregivers.