Elsevier

Maturitas

Volume 74, Issue 1, January 2013, Pages 14-20
Maturitas

Review
Use of social commitment robots in the care of elderly people with dementia: A literature review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2012.10.015Get rights and content

Abstract

Globally, the population of elderly people is rising with an increasing number of people living with dementias. This trend is coupled with a prevailing need for compassionate caretakers. A key challenge in dementia care is to assist the person to sustain communication and connection to family, caregivers and the environment. The use of social commitment robots in the care of people with dementia has intriguing possibilities to address some of these care needs. This paper discusses the literature on the use of social commitment robots in the care of elderly people with dementia; the contributions to care that social commitment robots potentially can make and the cautions around their use. Future directions for programs of research are identified to further the development of the evidence-based knowledge in this area.

Introduction

Statistics reported by the World Health Organization and Alzheimer's International indicate that by 2050 the number of people with dementia will globally increase by three times affecting 115.4 million people [1], [2]. In Canada, dementia is the leading cause of disability of Canadians over the age of 65 with significant economic costs expected to rise to $153 billion dollars by 2038 [2]. Similar issues exist in other countries such as Japan and the United States, where the increasing aging demographic and declining traditional caregiver demographic have driven the search for innovative dementia care strategies [1], [2], [3], [4], [5].

The anticipated prevalence and the economic impact of dementia care is significant, nevertheless, few countries have a national agenda for its treatment or management [1], [2], [3], [4], [5]. There is a pressing need for innovative research that will enhance quality care for people with dementia, decrease caregiver burden and reduce care costs [2]. Research in the area of social robots is in the initial stages of determining if the use of social robotics can assist the elderly living with dementia to improve affect and decrease agitation as well as provide companionship and enrich social interaction and quality of life [3]. The objectives of this paper are: to review the literature on social commitment robots and determine their efficacy within the elderly population living with dementia; and to determine future directions for this emerging area of research.

Section snippets

Dementia

Dementia is a progressive disease that erodes the person's ability to meaningfully communicate and interact, and impairs judgment, memory and affect regulation. Caregivers experience a considerable amount of stress in caring for a loved one with dementia. In addition to physical care, the inability to communicate is stressful not only for the person with the dementia, but also for professional caregivers and family members [1], [2]. Family members’ communication with the person with dementia

Search strategy

For this review, the search focused on the use of social commitment robots for dementia patients in long term care. Literature searches for this review were conducted in March, April and May 2012 using databases: PubMed, CINHAL, Ageline, Embase, Scopus, EI Engineering Village, PsychINFO, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Subject headings, from the databases’ thesaurus, and free text words (i.e. words from title, abstract or keywords) were used in the search strategies.

Terminology related to robots

Of note, there are a confusing array of terms used to describe robots that may fall under a general category of human interactive robots for psychological enrichment and are then further sub-classified as interactive autonomous robots which provide personal interactions, pleasure and relaxation [7]. Other literature identifies the classification of social assistive robots. The social assistive robot bridges the assistive robot functions which provide physical assistance with the social

History of robotics

The term ‘robot’ was first used in 1920 by the Czech playwright, Capek in a play entitled Rossum's Universal Robots. Here robots turned against their human masters, a plot which may partially explain the tension between fascination and distrust of robots. While the Japanese culture has welcomed robots and recognized them as “Iyashi” (healing) [12], North Americans have been slower to accept the concept of social and personal robots [9], [10], [11], [12]. North Americans are more accepting of

Literature review

During the course of the search, 4 review articles were found that pertained to the area of technology and care of the elderly person. The articles were from Switzerland, Finland, and two from The Netherlands [3], [14], [15], [16] and demonstrated a robust interest in finding innovative solutions to care. These reviews focused on broad e-health interventions which covered a wide range of options (for example, internet resources, video conferencing, home monitoring systems); or identified

Discussion

The world population continues to age with a corresponding decline in caregivers to meet the needs of the increasing global prevalence of people living with dementia [1], [2], [11]. Dementia, which affects cognition, affect, communication and behavior, is a progressive illness with escalating care needs that impacts individuals and families. Often the caregiver's health is also affected [1], [2]. The level of care that is required is costly to provide. The nature of dementia with deficits in

Conclusion

We are at the threshold of change in the care of people with dementia due to global demographics, specifically, the graying of society with subsequent decreases in the caregiver demographic, particularly in developed countries. At this time, innovative new ways of managing health care situations for this population are needed. Social assistive robots may provide important and feasible alternatives to some of the care demands. These alternatives must be balanced with cautions to provide quality

Contributors

Elaine Mordoch, RN PhD Assistant Professor University of Manitoba, helped in reviewing the literature, synthesize and write and edit a large portion of the article. Angela, Osterreicher, BSC MLS AHIP JW Crane Memorial Library, helped in the literature search and contributed to the article with edits and recommendations throughout the process and contributed to the formation of tables and synthesis of data. Lorna Guse, RN PhD Associate Professor University of Manitoba, contributed for writing

Competing interest

All authors have no conflicts of interest to report.

Provenance and peer review

Commissioned and externally peer reviewed.

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