University Study Says Robots Could Help Seniors Age In Place

The U.S. is about to face a reckoning when it comes to its 65-and-older population outnumbering children for the first time. But other nations — including Japan — are facing an even steeper ratio of older people to younger counterparts.

Since there is already a shortfall in home-care workers, encouraging people to enter the home care workforce or finding an alternate solution will be important. But what if an alternative solution was robots?

Some are already starting to warm to the idea of technology being a more prominent factor in the pursuit of aging in place. And actual robotic assistance is something being developed in other parts of the world, including through government endorsement of the idea.

A group of academics at Japan’s Chiba University aimed to find out just how receptive older populations in three countries would be to the idea of robots providing in-home care services, according to an article from Robotics and Automation News based on a study in the journal Nature. Researchers surveyed participants across Japan, Ireland and Finland to find out whether they see this as a realistic or even ideal prospect.

The researchers found that there was not only willingness to entertain the idea, but there was also a generally positive impression of robots in this regard.

“The analysis revealed that ‘willingness to participate in research and development,’ ‘interest in robot-related news,’ and ‘having a positive impression of robots’ were common factors among respondents from the three countries,” the article stated.

But unique cultural perspectives also emerged from the findings, including some caveats about the idea based on a respondent’s country of origin.

“‘[C]onvenience’ in Japan, ‘notifying family members and support personnel when an unexpected change occurs in an older person’ in Ireland, and ‘design’ in Finland were found to be distinct factors influencing the use of robots,” according to the article.

There are other aspects that the study aimed to account for. These include the active encouragement by the governments of the countries examined to construct robots for social utility, including for in-home care.

“In Japan, robot development is being encouraged by the government, industry, and academia, with a general optimism towards their application,” the article explained. “While robot development is slightly behind in Ireland, its use for older adults is being increasingly recognized, and artificial intelligence and robotics are being applied in health and social care. The Finnish respondents’ choice of ‘design’ is in line with Finnish design, which is widely known worldwide, suggesting that it is important in robot manufacturing.”

The potential applications for older adults to remain in their homes for longer, with some robotic help, is clearly recognized by the researchers.

“In countries where the population is aging, the use of home-care robots will enable many people to achieve ‘aging in place,’” Sayuri Suwa, one of the authors of the study, told the outlet.