scholarly journals Social Robots for the Care of Persons with Dementia

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-31
Author(s):  
Moojan Ghafurian ◽  
Jesse Hoey ◽  
Kerstin Dautenhahn

Intelligent assistive robots can enhance the quality of life of people with dementia and their caregivers. They can increase the independence of older adults, reduce tensions between a person with dementia and their caregiver, and increase social engagement. This article provides a review of assistive robots designed for and evaluated by persons with dementia. Assistive robots that only increased mobility or brain-computer interfaces were excluded. Google Scholar, IEEE Digital Library, PubMed, and ACM Digital Library were searched. A final set of 53 articles covering research in 16 different countries are reviewed. Assistive robots are categorized into five different applications and evaluated for their effectiveness, as well as the robots’ social and emotional capabilities. Our findings show that robots used in the context of therapy or for increasing engagement received the most attention in the literature, whereas the robots that assist by providing health guidance or help with an activity of daily living received relatively limited attention. PARO was the most commonly used robot in dementia care studies. The effectiveness of each assistive robot and the outcome of the studies are discussed, and particularly, the social/emotional capabilities of each assistive robot are summarized. Gaps in the research literature are identified and we provide directions for future work.

2020 ◽  
pp. 096372142097861
Author(s):  
Christopher J. Soto ◽  
Christopher M. Napolitano ◽  
Brent W. Roberts

Success in life is influenced by more than cognitive ability and opportunity. Success is also influenced by social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills: a person’s capacities to maintain social relationships, regulate emotions, and manage goal- and learning-directed behaviors. In this article, we propose an integrative model that defines SEB skills as capacities (what someone is capable of doing) rather than personality traits (what someone tends to do) and identifies five major skill domains: social engagement, cooperation, self-management, emotional resilience, and innovation. We then argue that operational measures of SEB skills should reflect rather than obscure the distinction between skills and traits. Finally, we propose an agenda for future work by highlighting open questions and hypotheses about the assessment, development, and outcomes of SEB skills as well as interventions and public policy targeting these skills.


2021 ◽  
pp. 014303432198897
Author(s):  
Vítor Alexandre Coelho ◽  
Marta Marchante

This study analyzed how social and emotional competencies evolved according to adolescents’ involvement in bullying, and whether gender influenced social and emotional competencies’ development. Five-hundred-fourteen students ( Mage = 12.71; SD = 1.09) were assessed through self-reports at three different time points for one year. Results showed that students involved in the three analyzed bullying roles displayed a more negative trajectory in all but one social emotional competence analyzed compared to students not involved in bullying. The exception was students who bullied others for responsible decision making. Additionally, gender differences were only found in self-esteem trajectories; boys displayed a more pronounced decrease. In larger classes, students displayed higher levels of self-control, social awareness and responsible decision-making. These results showed that reduced social and emotional competencies were a consequence of bullying involvement for every bullying role analyzed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. iii466-iii467
Author(s):  
Kendra Koch ◽  
Tatum Fettig ◽  
Meghan Slining

Abstract Addressing family needs for social/emotional support is part of the duty of oncology care teams. This research presents a (2020) scoping review and a (2019) focus group initiated to explore pediatric neuro-oncology parent experience of social/emotional support in conjunction with developing an online peer application to address family needs. Currently, the value of online support is in the forefront of clinical conversation. The focus group queried eight parents whose children were under neuro-oncology treatment in the Northwest USA. Thematic findings include—parents want supportive peers who have (1) a personal and deep understanding of parenting a child with serious illness (they “get it”); (2) particular characteristics and skills that promote and sustain relationships, including—(a) good social skills, (b) ability to engage in “balanced” (cancer/non-cancer) conversations, (c) individual similarities (beliefs, age of children, cancer diagnosis/treatment), (d) logistic commonalities (location, availability), (e) pro-social personal characteristics (i.e. sense of humor, emotional/social flexibility), and an (f) ability to navigate and maintain social/emotional boundaries. Parents also initiated discussion about “the burden of supportive relationships” and supporting families doing “normal” activities without worrying about treatment side effects and contagions. The literature review supports finding (1) above; reveals the paucity of evidence-based supports available to this population; underscores the critical need for practitioners and researchers to develop more evidence-based supports and interventions for families of children experiencing cancer; and supports practitioners’ consistently assessing parent and sibling social and emotional needs and then consistently referring or intervening when needs are identified.


Author(s):  
Michael J. Furlong ◽  
Erin Dowdy ◽  
Karen Nylund-Gibson ◽  
Rhea Wagle ◽  
Delwin Carter ◽  
...  

AbstractRobust evidence links students’ positive mental health with academic achievement and provides a compelling rationale for developing and refining strength-based assessments. The Social Emotional Health Survey–Secondary (SEHS-S) assesses adolescents’ social and emotional skills and positive psychological dispositions. Previous studies provide reliability and validity evidence; nonetheless, there is a need for continued refinement and validation across diverse groups. The current study revised and standardized the updated SEHS-S-2020 to validate further its use in secondary schools (Grades 9–12) with a large, diverse adolescent sample. Study participants included 72,740 from 113 California schools (structural validation sample), 10,757 students from 15 randomly selected California schools (criterion validation sample), and 707 students from four additional California schools (test-retest sample). Data analyses examined structural validity, measurement invariance, criterion validity, internal consistency, and response stability. Results supported the SEHS-S-2020 validity across diverse groups of youth in various contexts. The discussion focuses on implications for assessing students’ psychosocial assets and universal school-based screening.


2021 ◽  
pp. 153450842098452
Author(s):  
Christopher L. Thomas ◽  
Staci M. Zolkoski ◽  
Sarah M. Sass

Educators and educational support staff are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of systematic efforts to support students’ social and emotional growth. Logically, the success of social-emotional learning programs depends upon the ability of educators to assess student’s ability to process and utilize social-emotional information and use data to guide programmatic revisions. Therefore, the purpose of the current examination was to provide evidence of the structural validity of the Social-Emotional Learning Scale (SELS), a freely available measure of social-emotional learning, within Grades 6 to 12. Students ( N = 289, 48% female, 43.35% male, 61% Caucasian) completed the SELS and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Confirmatory factor analyses of the SELS failed to support a multidimensional factor structure identified in prior investigations. The results of an exploratory factor analysis suggest a reduced 16-item version of the SELS captures a unidimensional social-emotional construct. Furthermore, our results provide evidence of the internal consistency and concurrent validity of the reduced-length version of the instrument. Our discussion highlights the implications of the findings to social and emotional learning educational efforts and promoting evidence-based practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 164-165
Author(s):  
Laura Wray ◽  
Bonnie Vest ◽  
Laura Brady ◽  
Christina Vair ◽  
Gregory Beehler ◽  
...  

Abstract People with dementia (PWD) typically receive most of their healthcare in primary care (PC), but neurocognitive disorders can be challenging to recognize, assess, and manage in that setting. As a result, cognitive impairment in older adults is often missed or not addressed until later stages. The result is poor management of comorbid health conditions, increased healthcare utilization, and negative outcomes for the patient and family. Further, strategies for improvement and barriers to high quality PC for PWD have received limited attention. To improve PC for PWD, it is essential to understand what care outcomes should be targeted. To address this gap, we used a qualitative approach to examine potential outcomes of PC from the perspectives of older adults, family caregivers, primary care teams, and geriatrics specialists (n=79) from two Veterans Health Administration healthcare systems. Participants were interviewed individually or in focus groups. A directed content analysis based on the adapted Donabedian model was employed and expanded to fully capture transcript content. Three main categories of outcomes were identified: Personhood (i.e., independence), Physical Health and Safety, and Quality of Life. Regardless of participant type, respondents focused on similar desired outcomes and, notably, identified outcomes as important for both patients and their broader social context (i.e., caregivers, family). Discussion will: show how findings align with work conducted in specialty and residential care; describe how challenges to attaining these outcomes in PC can be overcome; and, challenge cognitive screening recommendations for PC that are based primarily on risk/benefit analysis of medication-focused outcomes.


Author(s):  
Esther Secanilla ◽  
María Bonjoch ◽  
Margarida Galindo ◽  
Laura Gros

In a global approach to the attention of carers of older people with dementia living at the elder’s home, it is essential to promote their personal, social and emotional wellbeing as well as provide them with tools that improve their quality of life. With this goal we present the experience of CDD and Residencia de Horta, Barcelona. A documentary review of the file was made, covering the period between 2004 and 2010 to define the sample. For the analysis of the semistructured admission interviews, monitoring and mentoring, a research was made through the daily records. Other strategies used were fulfilment questionnaires as well as the validated questionnaire of caregiver’s burden (Zarit and Zarit, 1982). Likewise, there was a systematic active observation of the GAM group. The interviews were made to the caregivers who attended the GAM. It is proven that actions of prevention and monitoring as well as psycho-educational training designed for carers promotes the user’s staying at their home, improves their quality of life and their caregiver’s.


Dementia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. 1064-1068
Author(s):  
Patricia Mc Parland ◽  
Clare Cutler ◽  
Anthea Innes

This paper reports on the challenges associated with implementing and evaluating an innovative pilot music and movement project. The evaluation documents that participants enjoyed the sessions and that they created the opportunity for social engagement although there is little to suggest this is unique to this particular type of intervention. Difficulties included matching the programme to the needs of participants, communicating effectively, and over burdensome paperwork. The paper also comments on the challenges associated with last minute, limited funding opportunities for both the organisation commissioning a project and the team evaluating it. In this case, the evaluation team found that many of the more difficult issues associated with the pilot could have been resolved with more time for planning and preparation.


Dementia ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (7) ◽  
pp. 930-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Lillekroken ◽  
Solveig Hauge ◽  
Åshild Slettebø

Research literature in the dementia field lacks examples of ‘best-practices’ demonstrating concretely how it is possible to support the sense of coherence in people with dementia. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the nurses’ views concerning a caring approach that may support the sense of coherence in people with dementia. The data were collected through participant observation and focus group interviews during a four-month period in 2011. Sixteen registered nurses recruited from two Norwegian nursing homes participated in this study. The data were interpreted using a phenomenological-hermeneutical method. Three themes were identified: ‘being in the moment’, ‘doing one thing at a time’, and ‘creating joy and contentment’. An overall interpretation of these themes is described by the metaphor ‘slow nursing’, a caring approach that may lead to supporting the sense of coherence in people with dementia.


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