INFAD (Nov 2019)
Social assistance robot as an affective tool in the care of elderly with dementia. Systematic reviex
Abstract
Background: The current process of population ageing is provoking a dramatic increase in the prevalence of Alzheimer s disease and other dementias. Sociallyassistiverobots may help patients both physicallyand socially. Theyare platforms with audio,visual, movementand intervention capacities which contributeto improve users’ dailyactivities,enhancing theirattention span as well as their feelings of personal autonomy and well-being. At the same time, they mitigate caregivers’ excessive burden and stress. Objetive: To get to know the intervention of socially assistive robots in the care of the elderly suffering from dementia, the support they may provide to their caregivers and their contribution to our health system. Methods: A systematicrevision has been carried out through thesearch of different databases, looking forarticles published in English along the last decade and including different investigation designs in which socially assistive robots are related to the care of elderly with dementia. Results: Out of 160 articles, only 12 related socially assistive robots to thecare ofelderly with dementia; and 8 of them were clinical trials showing positive results in the use of robotics, improving patients stimuli, communication, state of mind and caring conditions. The socially assistive robot tested more in depth was Paro. Elderly people accept the use of robotics in their caring, although it s caregivers who really see socially assistive robots as an effective tool for elderly care. Conclusion: Many possitive results were found in favor of using socially assistive robots in the caring of patients with dementia. However, it’s difficult to applytheseresultsto the general population since differentstudies measureresults using differentscales and applying different qualitative values, all of which result in subjectivity.
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