Giving a voice to older people to improve home assistive robotics

A project in which the UOC is taking part studies the needs and perceptions of people over 60 about this promising technology  

The increase in life expectancy and the decline in birth rate in developed societies raise important doubts about the capacity of care and healthcare systems to meet the future needs of an increasingly ageing population. Faced with this challenge, assistive robotics is a promising area of innovation that seeks to support the everyday tasks of older people. A research team from the eHealth Center at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), in collaboration with the Institut de Robòtica i Informàtica Industrial (IRI) and the REFiT-BCN research group at the Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili healthcare complex and the Vall d'Hebron Research Institute, has launched a project to qualitatively explore the needs and perceptions of these people in relation to home assistive robotics with the ultimate aim of improving their quality of life and well-being.

"Understanding older people's opinions and direct perceptions of these technologies is crucial for the development and successful implementation of solutions that really meet their needs and expectations," explained Marta Aymerich, director of the eHealth Center and researcher with the eHealthLab research group at the UOC. She is coordinating the project together with the research technician Eva Aumatell.

Innovating with older people's involvement

Assistive robotics aims to help with some of the challenges involved in caring for older people in their homes, supporting not just daily activities, such as eating, taking medication or cleaning their homes, but also support or monitoring tasks. Currently, some of these robots are at the concept phase, others are under development and some are already commercially available, but "there's still a lot of uncertainty about the integration of these tools in the care of older people," said Lorena Villa, a nurse and researcher with the REFiT-BCN group.

Through focus groups and in-depth interviews with people over the age of 60 led by Eva Aumatell from the eHealth Center, the research team will first try to identify which of these technologies are known and used in everyday life, and then delve into aspects related to needs, attitudes, perceptions, interests and feelings about the use of technology in general and of assistive robots in particular. They will also explore aspects such as perceived usefulness – which has been shown to be a predictor of the intention to use these technologies – and the aspects that facilitate and act as barriers to the inclusion of robots in older people's daily lives. These focus groups and interviews are conducted in collaboration with the Barcelona Aging Collaboratory (BALL), a living lab for ageing and longevity specializing in the co-creation and co-design of solutions with and for older people of which the UOC is part.

According to the researchers, user participation in technological innovation processes is a key step that is often not considered in depth in the case of this segment of the population. "There's a tendency to innovate for older people without involving them. People often mistakenly assume that they have no interest in, or lack sufficient knowledge of technology, and they therefore exclude them from the design, development and implementation of these technologies. This practice further stigmatizes older people in relation to technology, encourages age discrimination and forces them to adapt to the use of technologies based on other people's perspective and experience," said Villa.

Ethical and privacy risks

Another key aspect of the research project is analysing the ethical aspects of these technologies and their implementation. "The project addresses important ethical considerations related to privacy, loss of control and individual freedom, and other potential risks linked to the use of assistive robots for older people, such as reducing human contact, increasing confusion with reality or patronizing users," said Aymerich.

In relation to this, Villa said that the study will pay "special attention to this ethical dimension, as it has consequences that could directly or indirectly affect the health of older people".

Participants with different profiles

The interviews and focus groups in the project, which will last approximately one year, will be held at Casa de Pensar and the hospital of the Parc Sanitari Pere Virgili healthcare complex in Barcelona, and at Santa Creu hospital in Vic, as one of the aims is to assess whether older people's views differ by geographical area.

This qualitative study will also include different gender and health profiles, including participants with different degrees of frailty, disability or complex chronic diseases.  "It's not so much about the number of participants as about their diversity and the ability to explore their opinions in depth," said Aymerich.