UK: Robots which can hold simple conversations and learn people’s interests are to be set in some UK care homes after an international trial found they boosted mental health and reduced loneliness.
The wheeled robots are designed to be culturally competent, which means that after some initial programming they learn about the interests and backgrounds of care home residents. This allows them to initiate conversations, play residents’ favourite music, teach them languages, and offer practical help including medicine reminders.
The trial, in the UK and Japan, found that older adults in care homes who interacted with the robots for up to 18 hours across two weeks had a significant improvement in their mental health. There was a small but positive impact on loneliness severity among users and the system did not increase feelings of loneliness.
The initiative comes amid a continuing staffing crisis for UK care homes amid the coronavirus pandemic, during which more than 18,000 residents have died of confirmed or suspected Covid-19. Before the outbreak, the care industry had at least 120,000 vacancies and the largest operators this week told MPs that staff are suffering “burnout”, and the strain is being increased by the financial difficulties many operators are facing, after costs soared and occupancy levels fell.
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