Social Telepresence Robots: A Narrative Review of Experiments Involving Older Adults before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Baptiste Isabet, Maribel Pino, Manon Lewis, Samuel Benveniste and Anne-Sophie Rigaud
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Baptiste Isabet: EA 4468, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Paris, 75006 Paris, France
Maribel Pino: EA 4468, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Paris, 75006 Paris, France
Manon Lewis: School of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UK
Samuel Benveniste: EA 4468, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Paris, 75006 Paris, France
Anne-Sophie Rigaud: EA 4468, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Paris, 75006 Paris, France

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 7, 1-26

Abstract: Social isolation is a common phenomenon among the elderly. Retirement, widowhood, and increased prevalence of chronic diseases in this age group lead to a decline in social relationships, which in turn has adverse consequences on health and well-being. The coronavirus COVID-19 crisis worsened this situation, raising interest for mobile telepresence robots (MTR) that would help create, maintain, and strengthen social relationships. MTR are tools equipped with a camera, monitor, microphone, and speaker, with a body on wheels that allows for remote-controlled and sometimes autonomous movement aiming to provide easy access to assistance and networking services. We conducted a narrative review of literature describing experimental studies of MTR involving elderly people over the last 20 years, including during the COVID-19 period. The aim of this review was to examine whether MTR use was beneficial for reducing loneliness and social isolation among older adults at home and in health and care institutions and to examine the current benefits and barriers to their use and implementation. We screened 1754 references and included 24 research papers focusing on the usability, acceptability, and effectiveness of MTR. News reports on MTR use during the COVID-19 period were also examined. A qualitative, multidimensional analysis methodology inspired by a health technology assessment model was used to identify facilitating and limiting factors and investigate if and how MTR could reduce social isolation in elderly people. Reviewed studies provide encouraging evidence that MTR have potential in this regard, as experiments report positive feedback on MTR design and core functionalities. However, our analysis also points to specific technical, ergonomic, and ethical challenges that remain to be solved, highlighting the need for further multidimensional research on the design and impact of MTR interventions for older adults and building on new insights gained during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords: older adults; telepresence robots; loneliness; COVID-19; health technology assessment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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