Caregivers' requirements for in-home robotic agent for supporting community-living elderly subjects with cognitive impairment

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Faucounau, Véronique^{a; *} | Wu, Ya-Huei^a | Boulay, Mélodie^a | Maestrutti, Marina^b | Rigaud, Anne-Sophie^a | the QuoVADis project

Affiliations: [a] Assistance Publique-Hópitaux de Paris Hôpital Broca 54-56, Paris, France | [b] GET-INT (TELECOM & Management Sud Paris), Evry Cedex, France

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 1 44 08 35 03; Fax: +33 1 44 08 35 10; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: Older people are an important and growing sector of the population. This demographic change raises the profile of frailty and disability within the world's population. In such conditions, many old people need aides to perform daily activities. Most of the support is given by family members who are now a new target in the therapeutic approach. With advances in technology, robotics becomes increasingly important as a means of supporting older people at home. In order to ensure appropriate technology, 30 caregivers filled out a self-administered questionnaire including questions on needs to support their proxy and requirements concerning the robotic agent's functions and modes of action. This paper points out the functions to be integrated into the robot in order to support caregivers in the care of their proxy. The results also show that caregivers have a positive attitude towards robotic agents.

Keywords: Old people, caregivers, needs, burden, robot

DOI: 10.3233/THC-2009-0537

Journal: Technology and Health Care, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 33-40, 2009