Social Robots for People with Aging and Dementia: A Systematic Review of Literature.

BACKGROUND Social robots are currently a form of assistive technology for the elderly, healthy, or with cognitive impairment, helping to maintain their independence and improve their well-being. OBJECTIVE The main aim of this article is to present a review of the existing research in the literature, referring to the use of social robots for people with dementia and/or aging. METHODS Academic databases that were used to perform the searches are IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Science Direct, and Google Scholar, taking into account as date of publication the last 10 years, from 2007 to the present. Several search criteria were established such as "robot" AND "dementia," "robot" AND "cognitive impairment," "robot" AND "social" AND "aging," and so on., selecting the articles of greatest interest regarding the use of social robots in elderly people with or without dementia. RESULTS This search found a total of 96 articles on social robots in healthy people and with dementia, of which 38 have been identified as relevant work. Many of the articles show the acceptance of older people toward social robots. CONCLUSION From the review of the research articles analyzed, it can be said that use of social robots in elderly people without cognitive impairment and with dementia, help in a positive way to work independently in basic activities and mobility, provide security, and reduce stress.