Performance of daily activities by older adults with dementia: The role of an assistive robot

Older adults with cognitive impairment often have difficulties in remembering the proper sequence of activities of daily living (ADLs) or how to use the tools necessary to perform ADLs. They, therefore, require reminders in a timely fashion while performing ADLs. This is a very stressful situation for the caregivers of people with dementia. In this paper we describe a pilot study where a tele-operated assistive robot helps a group of older adults with dementia (OAwD) to perform an ADL, namely making a cup of tea in the kitchen. Five OAwD along with their caregivers participated in this study which took place in a simulated-home setting. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility and usability of a robotic system in assisting the OAwD to perform ADL in a home setting. The findings from this study will contribute to achieve our ultimate goal of designing a full-fledged assistive robot that assists OAwD aging in their own homes. The assistive robots designed for people with dementia mostly focus on companionship. This is, to the best of our knowledge, the first attempt to design an assistive robot which will provide step-by-step guidance to people with dementia in their activities of daily living.