A Robot to Guide Group-Therapy against Cognitive Decline: an Italian Pilot Study

• Published in: 2024 33rd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (ROMAN) pp. 2103 - 2108
• Main Authors: Amabili, Giulio, Maranesi, Elvira, Felici, Elisa, Margaritini, Arianna, Barbarossa, Federico, Marin, Andrei I., Anghel, Ionut M., Bevilacqua, Roberta
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 26-08-2024
• Subjects: Aging; Europe; Medical treatment; Mobile applications; Social robots; Usability
• ISSN: 1944-9437
• DOI: 10.1109/RO-MAN60168.2024.10731391

The ageing of population led to an increase of mild cognitive impairment cases, causing a struggling for society. Even though cognitive therapy is efficient in counteracting and slowing down the decline, due to the high demand for treatments, it is becoming increasingly difficult to deliver the therapy. In this scenario, the engAGE project aims to build a platform by integrating existing technologies like mobile app and social robot, to innovate cognitive therapy for older people in Europe. In this paper, the usability and the acceptability of the Pepper robot by Italian older people with mild cognitive impairment after 3 months of use in weekly group sessions are analyzed and discussed. Results show that acceptability, expressed in terms of intention to use, perceived usefulness, and positive attitude, overcomes the ease to use. Moreover, the group sessions with Pepper encourage the socialization and the participation of older people, who feel included and like protagonists of the co-design process.