Chapter 3 - Robotics to support aging in place

Abstract

Robots are increasingly becoming a part of our everyday lives—from the Roomba vacuum cleaner robot to manufacturing robots to cars that are increasingly automated. One exciting application of robotics is in health care and the home. This application is of increasing importance, as the proportion of older adults in our population increases. There are many older adults in need of help with daily tasks than human caregivers to provide such assistance. Robotics can fill this health-care gap and help older adults to age in place by increasing wellness, providing rehabilitation, and assisting with activities of daily life by compensating for functional age-related declines. There are many tasks that robots could be developed to assist older adults with. Today, there are three main categories of robots that can assist older adults to age in place. There are social companion robots, such as Paro, and tele-operated robots, such as telepresence. Finally, there are (semi-) autonomous assistive robots, such as the Roomba. These robots can assist older adults with a range of daily activities, such as fetching items, helping around the house, providing support in disease management, and facilitating social connectivity. However, for robots to be truly effective in helping older adults age in place, it is important to consider how these machines will fit into older adults' daily lives. To this end, the purpose of this chapter is to (1) provide an overview of the role robotics may play in aging in place; (2) categorize the types of robots that can support aging in place; (3) identify ways in which robots could assist with activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), and enhanced activities of daily living (EADLs); and finally (4) discuss adoption and ethical considerations in applying robots to support aging in place.