A proposed interactive activity for the elderly involving an entertainment robot

Abstract

Background: Residents of nursing homes are prone to solitude. Lack of social interaction affects all aspects of life - mental as well as physical. The decline in the working-age population and the increase in the number of elderly adults have led to inadequate care delivery. One solution would be to use recently developed humanoid and animal-like robots. Therefore, we propose a rehabilitation program for the elderly using entertainment robots to improve sociality and self-efficacy. Method: The exercise named “Robotic Dog Derby†was one of the proposed programs. We used entertainment robots created by Sony to chase pink objects. Participants with mild dementia (age: >70 years) used a pink ball to lead their own robots to the finish line. In the other proposal, residents chatted with therapist by speaking to the communication robot face to them. The therapist used iPad and headset to get the picture. Findings and Discussion: Before the Derby race, participants placed bets on the dogs, and the winner received a reward after the game. This program helped improve the social quality of life of nursing home residents because it involved basic concepts of sociability, including ownership, conflict, and coordination. In the case using communication robot, the therapist were able to take multi-ply care of residents at a time. The residents made chat more vividly with robot than therapist in person. This might come from a stimulus property of robot. Conclusion: The proposed program contributed to improving the sense of community between nursing home residents including therapists.