The Impact of Socially Supportive Robotic Intervention on Loneliness, Depression, Self-agency and Well-being in Long-term Care Residents: A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial
The Impact of Socially Supportive Robotic Intervention on Loneliness, Depression, Self-agency and Well-being in Long-term Care Residents: A Three-Arm Randomized Controlled Trial
The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of a personalized, co-designed robot interaction against a standardized, fixed robot interaction for reducing loneliness, depression, as well as improving self-agency and quality of life in older adults.
This is a three-arm randomized controlled trial. The study will be conducted at a community center in Fuzhou, China, with 100 participants aged 65+ recruited from the facility. The participants will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) Co-designed robot (CL) group receiving a personalized robot interaction with a structured co-design ceremony; (2) Standard robot (SL) group interacting with an identical robot without personalization features; or (3) An attention-controlled usual care (CU) group. The intervention comprises 16 sessions (two weekly 20-minute sessions over eight weeks). The primary outcomes are loneliness and depressive symptoms. Secondary outcomes include general self-efficacy, quality of life, as well as staff and participants' perceptions of the robot. Mechanism measures (i.e., engagement, self-disclosure) and manipulation checks (e.g., perceived personal role) will be employed to elucidate the underlying theoretical pathways. Data will be collected at baseline (T0), after the initial 2-week co-design period (T1), post-intervention (T2, Week 8), and at 1-month (T3) and 3-month (T4) follow-ups.
The inclusion criteria of this program are: (1) being aged 65 or above, (2) living within the elderly community center for at least 1 month, and (3) being capable of interacting with a robot.
The participants were not eligible if they were: (1) already engaged in other socially assistive robot programs, (2) diagnosed with severe psychiatric problems, (3) bed-bound, or (4) living in an area with no Internet coverage.