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. 2024 Jul 4;12(13):1334.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare12131334.

Social Robots for Meaningful Seated Activities: Acceptance & Use by Older Adults

James R Sadler  1 , Aila Khan  1 , Michael Lwin  1 , Omar Mubin  2
Affiliations

Social Robots for Meaningful Seated Activities: Acceptance & Use by Older Adults

James R Sadler et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

Healthy aging requires the maintenance of good physical and cognitive activity. However, as they age, older adults often experience a decline in physical and cognitive activity, leading to a more sedentary lifestyle. Some older adults may not have a choice but to become increasingly sedentary as they age due to injury or deteriorated physicality. As such, they require assistive technologies to aid in their daily lives and activities to maintain healthy cognitive function. Social Robots are a newer form of assistive technology, specifically designed for social interactions and gameplay. As with other assistive technologies, compliance barriers to their acceptance and use for meaningful, seated activities among older adults are expected. To better explore this phenomenon, improve quality of life and understand what drives older adults to accept and use newer forms of technology like social robots, this conceptual paper conjoins two theoretical frameworks: The Activity Theory of Aging (ATA) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). As social robots hold great promise for improving the quality of life for older adults, exploring what driving factors could enable their greater acceptance and use is essential to furthering this field of study within Australia.

Keywords: healthy aging; meaningful activities; older adults; quality of life; social robots.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a,b) Social Robot ‘PEPPER’ Engaging Older Adults in Meaningful Seated Activities (Credit: Getty Images).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Model Adopted from the Unified Theory of Acceptance & Use of Technology.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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