Exploring robotic solutions for home health care: a research study on robot assistants in home health-care delivery

Purpose This study aims to examine the feasibility of integrating a mobile consumer robot as an adjunct to home health-care services. This paper hypothesized that consumer robots can improve home health patients’ ability to manage their health and health-care needs, reduce their mood distress, and reduce their subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Design/methodology/approach Twenty patients agreed to participate in the study while receiving home health-care services and 19 were enrolled. Pre- and post-intervention surveys included the patient activation measure-13 and the UCLA loneliness scale. Mood distress scores and social isolation responses were obtained from the Outcome Assessment and Information Set data captured in the home health-care agency’s admission and discharge assessments via items D0160 – total severity score and D0700 – social isolation and compared pre- and post-intervention. In addition, the system usability scale was a measure administered post-intervention to patients in both the consumer robot and the smart speaker groups. Findings The results of this study suggest consumer robots can improve older adults’ management of their health and health-care needs, reduce their mood distress and reduce subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. The researchers acknowledged that the small sample size and limited population diversity reduce the ability to generalize the results to a larger population. However, this study lays the foundation for further research identifying the impact of consumer robots and technology on home health-care and patient outcomes. Originality/value By addressing user needs, ensuring safety and ethical considerations and fostering ongoing research, consumer robots have the potential to empower older adults to live with greater independence and dignity while promoting a more sustainable health-care system for the aging population.