This paper focuses on three areas: the first is a review of current knowledge about social and service robots for elderly care. The second is an optimization conceptual model aimed at maximizing the efficiency of assigning robots to serve the elderly. The proposed multi-criteria optimization model is the first one proposed in the area of optimization for robot assignment for the elderly with robot utilization level and caregiver stress level. The third is the findings of studies on the needs, requirements, and adoption of technology in elderly care. We consider the use of robots as a part of the ENRICHME project for long-term interaction and monitoring of older persons with mild cognitive impairment, to optimize their independence. Additionally, we performed focus group discussions (FGD) to collect opinions about robot-related requirements of the elderly and their caregivers. Four FDGs of six persons were organized: two comprising older adults, and two of the other formal and informal caregivers, based on a detailed script. The statements of older participants and their caregivers were consistent in several areas. The analysis revealed user characteristics, robot-related issues, functionality, and barriers to overcome before the deployment of the robot. An introduction of the robot must be thoroughly planned, include comprehensive pre-training, and take the ethical and practical issues into account. The involvement of future users in the customization of the robot is essential.

BACKGROUND:The ageing of population is the reason that there are various strategies developed to help seniors acquire greater independence and a better quality of life. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between the elderly peope?...

Background: Populations are aging at an alarming rate in many countries around the world. There has been not only a decrease in the number of births and an increase in the percentage of older people, but also an increase in the number of people living alone. There is growing demand for specialist medical care and daily care with the number of people who can act as caregivers reducing. The use of assistive robots can, at least partially, solve these problems. Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the opinions of future health care professionals (medical and nursing students) regarding the use of assistive robots in the care of older people. Methods: The study was conducted with a group of 178 students from Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland (110 nursing students and 68 medical students), using the Users’ Needs, Requirements, and Abilities Questionnaire. Results: The participants of this study believed that assistive robots should, first of all, remind older people to take medication regularly, ensure their safety, monitor their health status and environment, provide cognitive training, and encourage them to maintain physical activity. In the students’ opinion, the robot should not be an older person’s companion but only act as an assistant. Nursing students had significantly higher scores than medical students in several statements concerning everyday use of robots, including reminding about meals (P=.03), monitoring the environment (P=.001), providing advice about a healthy diet (P=.04), monitoring the intake of food and fluids (P=.02), and automatic “switch on” function (P=.02). Nursing students were more focused on the social functions of robots, including encouraging contact with friends (P=.003) and reducing the sense of loneliness and improving mood (P=.008). Medical students were more aware of privacy issues in the statement concerning the possibility of switching off the robot in specific situations (P=.01). Conclusions: Our study revealed a generally positive attitude of future doctors and nurses toward assistive robots, which can have an impact on their acceptance by older adults. In the future, medical professionals could help their patients to choose the right robots (and necessary functions) that are best suited to their needs. However, this would require expanding the curriculum to include the issues of gerontechnology.

Poor nutritional status (PNS) is a modifiable factor determining abnormalities in body composition-sarcopenia, obesity, and sarcopenic obesity (SO). We aimed to assess the prevalence of these conditions and their association with PNS in 211 community-dwelling older adults. Sarcopenia was diagnosed based on the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People 2 (EWGSOP2) recommendations. Obesity was diagnosed with the Percent Body Fat (>42% in women and >30% in men). Subjects fulfilling the criteria for obesity and concomitantly with reduced lower and/or upper limbs muscle strength and muscle mass (ALM/BMI < 0.512 in women and <0.789 in men) were classified as SO phenotype. Participants without obesity and sarcopenia were categorized as ‘normal’ phenotype. Nutritional status was estimated with the Mini Nutritional Assessment, and a score of <24 indicated PNS. In total, 49.8% participants had abnormal body composition (60.7% men and 42.5% women; p = 0.001). Sarcopenia, obesity, and SO were diagnosed in 10%, 32.7%, and 7.1% of subjects. PNS was found in 31.3% of the study sample. Its prevalence differed between phenotypes: 81% in sarcopenia, 60% in SO, 14.5% in obesity, and 28.3% in the ‘normal’ phenotype group (p = 0.000). Based on the results, abnormal body composition is prevalent in elderly subjects. Sarcopenia and SO are often associated with PNS.

The aim of the study was to evaluate the Camberwell Assessment of Need for the Elderly questionnaire (CANE) in assessing the needs of elderly individuals living in long-term care institutions (LTCI) in Poland. The needs of 173 residents were assessed. The inclusion criteria were age (at least 75 years of age) and the lack of severe cognitive impairment (Mini Mental Scale Examination score of at least 15 points). In all participants, met and unmet needs were assessed by themselves and by the nursing staff involved in care activities. The number of met needs assessed by the staff was higher than in the users' opinions (p<0.0001), whereas the number of unmet needs was lower (p<0.001). However, the average percentage of the agreement between the user and the staff was as high as 86.2%. The areas characterized by the lowest agreement were Company (65.3%), Memory (75.7%), Eyesight/hearing/communication (70.5%) and Psychological distress (70.5%). Despite a high percentage of agreement reached between the staff and user assessments of needs in our study, we were able to identify the areas of discrepancies between these two perceptions of needs. These can be treated as signals pointing to those aspects of care that should be addressed.

Background: Efficient use of humanoid social robots in the care for older adults requires precise knowledge of expectations in this area. There is little research in this field that includes the interaction of stakeholders with the robot. Even fewer studies have compared the perceptions of older people (as care recipients) and professional caregivers (representing those taking care of older adults in teams with robots). Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze whether specific aspects of the perceptions about humanoid robots influence attitudes after interacting with the robot and to compare the opinions of different stakeholders (older people and their professional caregivers) on this topic. We analyzed the potential impact of the differences in perception of the robot between stakeholder groups with respect to how the robot should be designed and tailored to fit the specific needs of future users. We also attempted to define areas where targeted educational activities could bring the attitudes of the two groups of stakeholders closer to each other. Methods: The studied group was a conveniently available sample of individuals who took part in the presentation of and interaction with a humanoid social robot. Among them, there were 48 community-dwelling older adults (aged ≥60 years), who were participants of day care units (which may signal the presence of self-care needs), and 53 professional caregivers. The participants were asked to express their views after an interaction with a humanoid social robot (TIAGo) using the Users’ Needs, Requirements and Abilities Questionnaire (UNRAQ) and the Godspeed Questionnaire Series (GQS). Results: Compared to the caregivers, older adults not only assessed the robot more positively with respect to its roles as a companion and assistant (P=.009 and P=.003, respectively) but also had higher scores on their need to increase their knowledge about the robot (P=.049). Regarding the robot’s functions, the greatest differences between groups were observed for the social aspects on the UNRAQ, including decreasing the sense of loneliness (P=.003) and accompanying the user in everyday activities (P=.005). As for the GQS, the mean scores of the Animacy, Likeability, and Perceived Intelligence scales were significantly higher for older participants than for caregivers (P=.04, P<.001, and P<.001, respectively). The only parameter for which the caregivers’ scores were higher than those of the older adults was the Artificial-Lifelike item from the Anthropomorphism scale of the GQS (P=.03). Conclusions: The acceptance of the social functions of a humanoid robot is related to its perception in all analyzed aspects, whereas the expected usefulness of a care robot is not linked to aspects of anthropomorphism. Successful implementation of robots in the care for older people thus depends on considering not only the fears, needs, and requirements of various stakeholders but also on the perceptions of the robot. Given the differences between the stakeholders, targeted and properly structured educational and training activities for caregivers and prospective users may enable a seamless integration of robotic technologies in care provision.