Feasibility study of a robotic medication assistant for the elderly

Authors:
Priyesh Tiwari;Jim Warren;Karen Day;Bruce MacDonald;Chandimal Jayawardena;I. H. Kuo;Aleksandar Igic;Chandan Datta
Affiliations:
University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand;University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
Venue:
AUIC '11 Proceedings of the Twelfth Australasian User Interface Conference - Volume 117
Year:
2011

Citing 8
Cited 1

Principles of mixed-initiative user interfaces

Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
How to write health dialog for a talking computer

Journal of Biomedical Informatics - Special issue: Dialog systems for health communications
Health dialog systems for patients and consumers

Journal of Biomedical Informatics - Special issue: Dialog systems for health communications
Enjoyment intention to use and actual use of a conversational robot by elderly people

Proceedings of the 3rd ACM/IEEE international conference on Human robot interaction
Improving computer interaction for older adults

ACM SIGACCESS Accessibility and Computing
User specific design of interfaces and interaction techniques: what do older computer users need?

UAHCI'07 Proceedings of the 4th international conference on Universal access in human computer interaction: coping with diversity
Persuasive robotic assistant for health self-management of older adults: Design and evaluation of social behaviors

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Gestural interfaces for elderly users: help or hindrance?

GW'09 Proceedings of the 8th international conference on Gesture in Embodied Communication and Human-Computer Interaction

Older adults' medication management in the home: how can robots help?

Proceedings of the 8th ACM/IEEE international conference on Human-robot interaction

Quantified Score

Hi-index	0.00

Visualization

Abstract

Management of complex medication regimens by older people poses a significant challenge wherein use of information technology could play a role in improving clinical efficacy and safety of treatment. The use of computing devices, however, presents a special challenge to older people given their physical and cognitive limitations. Robotic platforms show promise for extending the functionality of the user interface to make personalized interaction engaging and empowering, and for proactively reaching out to older users to support their healthcare delivery. We believe that a robot combining a touch screen and voice based interface could offer an effective platform to meet these requirements. This paper reports on a feasibility study of such a system for helping older people with their medications. We exposed 10 relatively independent residents of an aged care facility to our robot running a medication reminding application while they took their medications. The interaction was followed by a questionnaire and structured interview to elicit their opinions and feedback. We found the application to be well received as all users could successfully complete the session, and most subjects found it easy to use, appropriately designed and felt confident using it. A number of technical errors were uncovered, and the results suggest opportunities to refine the equipment and dialog design to provide a better robotic medication assistant.