The Perceptions of People with Dementia and Key Stakeholders Regarding the Use and Impact of the Social Robot MARIO

Dympna Casey, Eva Barrett, Tanja Kovacic, Daniele Sancarlo, Francesco Ricciardi, Kathy Murphy, Adamantios Koumpis, Adam Santorelli, Niamh Gallagher and Sally Whelan
Additional contact information
Dympna Casey: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aras Moyola, NUI, Galway, Ireland
Eva Barrett: College of Engineering and Science, Alice Perry Building, NUI, Galway, Ireland
Tanja Kovacic: UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre, School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI, Galway, Ireland
Daniele Sancarlo: Sistemi Informativi, Innovazione e Ricerca, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza. Viale Cappuccini, 1 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo FG, Italy
Francesco Ricciardi: Sistemi Informativi, Innovazione e Ricerca, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza. Viale Cappuccini, 1 71013 San Giovanni Rotondo FG, Italy
Kathy Murphy: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aras Moyola, NUI, Galway, Ireland
Adamantios Koumpis: Institut Digital Enabling, Berner Fachhochschule, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland
Adam Santorelli: Faculty of Engineering, Macdonald Engineering Building, 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Room 382 Montreal, Montreal, QC H3A 0C3, Canada
Niamh Gallagher: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aras Moyola, NUI, Galway, Ireland
Sally Whelan: School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aras Moyola, NUI, Galway, Ireland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-19

Abstract: People with dementia often experience loneliness and social isolation. This can result in increased cognitive decline which, in turn, has a negative impact on quality of life. This paper explores the use of the social robot, MARIO, with older people living with dementia as a way of addressing these issues. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted to explore the perceptions and experiences of the use and impact of MARIO. The research took place in the UK, Italy and Ireland. Semi-structured interviews were held in each location with people with dementia ( n = 38), relatives/carers ( n = 28), formal carers ( n = 28) and managers ( n = 13). The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that despite challenges in relation to voice recognition and the practicalities of conducting research involving robots in real-life settings, most participants were positive about MARIO. Through the robot’s user-led design and personalized applications, MARIO provided a point of interest, social activities, and cognitive engagement increased. However, some formal carers and managers voiced concern that robots might replace care staff.

Keywords: dementia; Alzheimer’s; older adults; social robots; companion robots; MARIO; qualitative research; quality of care; long-term care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/22/8621/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/22/8621/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:22:p:8621-:d:448189

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().