Do Socially Assistive Robots Help in Caring for Elderly Patients with Frailty or Mild Cognitive Impairment?

Abstract

The burgeoning elderly population, set to double by 2050 worldwide, will place immense demand on provision of elderly care. The mismatch in supply and demand of social care, made worse by the recent Covid-19 pandemic, has heightened the search for viable adjuncts to social care. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the possible role of socially assistive robots (SAR) in care of elderly patients with frailty or mild cognitive impairment. In the past decade, SAR has emerged as a possible contender for assisted care. Through interviews with frontline NHS clinical stakeholders, review of research articles and visit to the Robot House research facility in the University of Hertfordshire, this project has identified the barriers, limitations to SARs and ethical challenges that needs addressing before the mainstream implementation of SARs to assist in care of the elderly. It is imperative to establish SARs’ safety profile and effectiveness through end-user inclusive, robustly designed, randomized clinical trials addressing the contextual factors of SAR implementation. Particular care and attention should be devoted to ensuring that future studies are enrolled with adequate numbers of participants to achieve statistically significant outcomes of SAR safety and acceptability. With paucity of social care workers and an ever-increasing population of older age adults, SARs will have a potential role to play in supporting the independence and dignity of elderly people in their own environment. SARs offer hope amidst the current social care despair, and further research is key to their eventual success in aged care, which may be years away from reality.