Purpose of Review This work presents a comprehensive overview of social robots in therapy and the healthcare of children, adults, and elderly populations. According to recent evidence in this field, the primary outcomes and limitations are highlighted. This review points out the implications and requirements for the proper deployment of social robots in therapy and healthcare scenarios. Recent Findings Social robots are a current trend that is being studied in different healthcare services. Evidence highlights the potential and favorable results due to the support and assistance provided by social robots. However, some side effects and limitations are still under research. Summary Social robots can play various roles in the area of health and well-being. However, further studies regarding the acceptability and perception are still required. There are challenges to be addressed, such as improvements in the functionality and robustness of these robotic systems.

Robot-assisted therapy for gait rehabilitation of patients with neurological disorders usually combines a body weight support system with a treadmill system. Lokomat is one of the most used devices for gait rehabilitation. This device allows therapists to focus on the patient and the therapy. However, this therapy session is based on multi-tasking processes, which are often difficult for a therapist to manage. In this work, a Socially Assistive Robot (SAR) was integrated into a neurorehabilitation program as a collaborator agent to promote patient engagement and performance during the therapy. This short-term study presents the effects comparing the social robot condition and control condition with a group of four neurological patients using repeated measurement design. As a remarkable result, patients improved thoracic 18.44% and cervical 32.23% posture on average with SAR assistance. This study demonstrated the feasibility of the integration of a social robot as a complement of gait rehabilitation programs.

Currently, Social Assistive Robotics (SAR) is widely explored in different areas and scenarios. In cardiac rehabilitation, SAR has been recently implemented as a tool to improve the quality of the procedures and support patients to boost their performance. As cardiac rehabilitation comprises numerous sessions, such systems must guarantee to be effective in the long term. Therefore, to achieve this goal, it is important to understand how users, namely patients and clinicians who mostly know the needs and the therapy environment, perceive this technology. In this context, this paper presents the assessment of the attitudes towards a social robot in order to evaluate the expectation of potential new users, and perception of users who interacted with the social robot during a period of 18 weeks performing cardiac rehabilitation. A total of 43 participants (28 patients and 15 clinicians) were included in the study, and acceptance and perception factors were evaluated through a modified UTAUT questionnaire model and open discussion sessions. Results show that 75% of patients have positive thoughts regarding the usefulness, utility, safety, and trust perceived of a social robot, and 80% of clinicians consider that the robot is a useful tool for cardiac rehabilitation. Similarly, a more positive perception was noticed after the users interacted with the robot. Furthermore, this perception study allows the enhancement of the social model of interaction in the future, aiming to provide a more natural interaction trough personalized features, increasing social abilities and engagement of the users during the therapy.

A growing interest in Socially Assistive Robotics in Physical Rehabilitation is currently observed; some of the benefits highlight the capability of a social robot to support and assist rehabilitation procedures. This paper presents a perception study that aimed to evaluate clinicians’ and patients’ perception of a social robot that will be integrated as part of Lokomat therapy. A total of 88 participants were surveyed, employing an online questionnaire based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). The participants belong to two health care institutions located in different countries (Colombia and Spain). The results showed an overall positive perception of the social robot (>60% of participants have a positive acceptance). Furthermore, a difference depending on the nature of the user (clinician vs. patient) was found.

Social robots are demonstrating to have potential in several healthcare applications, especially in rehabilitation areas. This paper presents an architecture for a socially assistive robot system for cardiac rehabilitation, based on a model-controller structure through a finite-state machine and a behaviour module. The platform has been designed to provide social support and assistance during the therapy, aiming to improve the quality of the provided service, as well as the engagement and performance of the patients. This architecture has been tested under clinical conditions with a patient during a typical therapy session. The results show that the proposed architecture is able to adapt to the various situations present during a session, providing a robust framework to further develop the robot's behaviour towards a more natural and intuitive interaction with the patients.