Nurses' perception towards care robots and their work experience with socially assistive technology during COVID-19: A qualitative study.

This study aimed to explore nurses' perceptions towards care robots and their work experiences in caring for older adults who use socially assistive technology. This qualitative descriptive study included 18 nurses who cared for older adults with dementia or living alone at home. Interviews via Zoom were conducted, and the collected data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. The three themes were identified: (1) perceived benefits, (2) perceived challenges, and (3) improvements needed to enhance the quality of care. The participants perceived that the care robot and socially assistive technology were useful in caring for older adults during COVID-19. However, they noted that the limited capabilities of the technology and an increased workload negatively impacted the quality of care for older adults. The findings of this study indicated that socially assistive technology and care robots have potential benefits in assisting older adults with dementia or living alone.

Review of outcome measures in PARO robot intervention studies for dementia care.

The aim of this study was to describe interventions for PARO, as well as the outcomes evaluated and found following use of PARO, and to identify outcome measures in PARO intervention studies for older adults with dementia. Multiple databases (Web of Science, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Scopus) were searched and eight studies were included in the systematic review. The review demonstrated that interventions using PARO can be beneficial for improving QOL, affect, social interaction, and reducing NPS and psychotropic or pain medication use. This study identified three domains of outcome measures used to assess the effects of interventions using the PARO robot: quality of life, biological and physiological conditions, and medical treatment.