Socially Assistive Robots Helping Older Adults through the Pandemic and Life after COVID-19

Autor: Cristina Getson, Goldie Nejat
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Robotics, Vol 10, Iss 3, p 106 (2021)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2218-6581
DOI: 10.3390/robotics10030106
Popis: The COVID-19 pandemic has critically impacted the health and safety of the population of the world, especially the health and well-being of older adults. Socially assistive robots (SARs) have been used to help to mitigate the effects of the pandemic including loneliness and isolation, and to alleviate the workload of both formal and informal caregivers. This paper presents the first extensive survey and discussion on just how socially assistive robots have specifically helped this population, as well as the overall impact on health and the acceptance of such robots during the pandemic. The goal of this review is to answer research questions with respect to which SARs were used during the pandemic and what specific tasks they were used for, and what the enablers and barriers were to the implementation of SARs during the pandemic. We will also discuss lessons learned from their use to inform future SAR design and applications, and increase their usefulness and adoption in a post-pandemic world. More research is still needed to investigate and appreciate the user experience of older adults with SARs during the pandemic, and we aim to provide a roadmap for researchers and stakeholders.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals