In December 2024, a LIFEBOTS Exchange’s workshop looked at beneficial interactions with other European projects, including COMFORTage. A focus was on future potential uses of social robots in the field of dementia.
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Next in line, is a webinar on understanding and addressing the emotional, physical, and practical support requirements for patients and caregivers, to be held on 21 March 2025 by the COMFORTage Community Forum. Make sure you register to attend.
Looking at the synergies between both projects
On 11 December 2024, the LIFEBOTS Exchange workshop covered the entirety of the project’s work over a 5-year period. Attendees were introduced to a booklet published by the project. The booklet offers readers insight into potential future directions for social robots’ use in health and especially care. It will be published officially in March 2025.
COMFORTage focuses on exciting future possible ways of handling the personalisation of prevention and treatment of people who are experiencing dementia and/or frailty. The project foresees synergies with the LIFEBOTS Exchange project. As a large-scale project, COMFORTage is using a sophisticated multi-disciplinary approach to brainstorm about its work, and share information with others. It has clustered a set of 13 use cases into five categories. Cluster E is an Active Ageing Observatory. Work inside Digital Innovation Hubs and Living Labs will study how people’s wellbeing and quality of life can be improved. In terms of social robots, two pilots will cover different, but complementary, themes: 1. Cognitive training and methods to address loneliness, 2. Effective tools to support older adults’ activities of daily living (ADLs), quality of life, interaction and care.
Co-creation sessions will be held to move forward the piloted work with people with dementia who are able to remain, and do remain, in their own home.
Saying hello to a Pepper social robot
Source: The COMFORTage project – INTRAS, Spain
Next steps forward for the LIFEBOTS Exchange consortium?
There are two main possibilities. Further research and investigation of these options is vital; so too is trial implementation.
- It is highly likely that a suitable use case for social robots will lie in caring for people with dementia or who are affected by frailty.
- Social robots should not be examined in isolation but need to be seen as one element in a care pathway or to be integrated in a care-giving ecosystem.
Examining care pathways, dementia, and social robots
Dementia develops through many stages of development over the life-course. Seven stages were identified by Dr Barry Reiberg and colleagues, of which several early stages are mild and moderate. At stage 5 a person with dementia, specifically Alzheimer’s, may:
- Experience personality changes and mood swings.
- Repeat the same questions over and over again.
- Have gaps in memory and become confused about the date, where their family members are, their address, and phone number.
- Need help with eating or using the toilet.
- Have trouble choosing clothing, such as what kind of clothes to wear for the season.
- Have bladder problems.
So what can social robots do to help?
Social robots can support people with dementia who are resident in their own homes. They can also help their formal and informal carers.
Specifically, it is foreseen that social robots will offer assistive services that help with:
- Answering questions that a person with dementia may ask again and again.
- Helping a person to call or chat with relatives, by understanding and responding to their voiced request and acting appropriately.
- Stimulating a person’s memory and contributing to their reminiscences.
- Reminding a person about taking their medication(s).
- Advising a person on cooking/diet and helping someone to secure the living environment.
- Being present when a person with dementia is disoriented.
- Creating an emotional engagement with the person with dementia.
Outlining the implications for social robots
Today, the overall implication is that social robots can indeed provide help to both formal and informal carers. This orientation implies two aspects: one is related to data, another is associated with adaptation to circumstances.
Social robots will need to be able to collect and share data that carers can use. The robots will also need to be able to adapt to the evolution of health and care conditions – whether they are dementia-based or frailty-based – as well as to the carers’ needs.
What’s in it for you?
Is the work of social robots of interest to you? Is alleviating and supporting the condition of people with dementia your area of concern or work? Follow the COMFORTage journey.
Keep abreast of COMFORTage’s work, supported by EHTEL, to see how social robots will help support both people with dementia in their own homes and their formal and informal carers.
First in a series of useful online meetings, held by the COMFORTage Community Forum is held on 21 March 2025 on understanding and addressing the emotional, physical, and practical support requirements for patients. Please feel free to get in contact with COMFORTage.
