ArticleFutures2020
Can robots tackle late-life loneliness? Scanning of future opportunities and challenges in assisted living facilities.
Article in Futures, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 59 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ethical aspects of the use of social robots in caring for older people - a systematic qualitative review.Medicine, health care, and philosophy · 2026Pooled it
- The Effectiveness of Technology-Based Interventions for Reducing Loneliness in Older Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Pooled it
- Video Calls for Older Adults: A Narrative Review of Experiments Involving Older Adults in Elderly Care Institutions.Frontiers in public healthPooled it
- Exploring Emotional Attachment to Socially Assistive Robots: A Qualitative Study Among Older Adults.Nursing & health sciences · 2026Article
- Towards Real-World Dementia Care: Encouraging Activity Engagement Using an Intelligent Humanoid Robot.Journal of applied gerontology : the official journal of the Southern Gerontological Society · 2026Article
- Exploratory Research With a Health Consumer Group on Social Robot Use Among Older Adults: Qualitative Study.JMIR human factors · 2025Article
- Attitudes of Arab Family Caregivers in Israel Toward Robot-Delivered Care For ADL-Dependent (Activities of Daily Living-Dependent) Older People: Identifying Ethical and Social Issues.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2025Article
- Revealing the nuances of 'Grey Digital Divide' in Hong Kong: A latent profile analysis.PloS one · 2025Article
- Improving the Social Well-Being of Single Older Adults Using the LOVOT Social Robot: Qualitative Phenomenological Study.JMIR human factors · 2024Article
- Social Robots for Meaningful Seated Activities: Acceptance & Use by Older Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Care-receivers with physical disabilities' perceptions on having humanoid assistive robots as assistants: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Technology Acceptance of a Social Robot (LOVOT) Among Single Older Adults in Hong Kong and Singapore: Protocol for a Multimethod Study.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- Use of Digital Technologies to Maintain Older Adults' Social Ties During Visitation Restrictions in Long-Term Care Facilities: Scoping Review.JMIR aging · 2023Article
- Can Communication Technologies Reduce Loneliness and Social Isolation in Older People? A Scoping Review of Reviews.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Customized Information and Communication Technology for Reducing Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults: Scoping Review.JMIR mental health · 2022Article
- Nursing procedures for advanced dementia: Traditional techniques versus autonomous robotic applications (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2022Review
- A simulated experiment to explore robotic dialogue strategies for people with dementia.Journal of rehabilitation and assistive technologies engineeringArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This future-oriented study examines the opportunities and challenges offered by social robots and communication technology when aiming to decrease emotional and social loneliness in older people residing in assisted living (AL). The paper draws on prior literature on loneliness, elder care and social robots. The aim is to scan the futures regarding technology support for the frail older people in future AL. The analytical frame was built on Robert Weiss' division of relational functions: attachment, social integration, opportunity for nurturance, reassurance of worth, sense of reliable alliance, and guidance in stressful situations, and on a distinction between direct and indirect social robots. Our examinations show that social robots could tackle both emotional and social loneliness in assisted living by empowering people to engage in different forms of social interaction inside and outside the facility. However, ethical concerns of objectification, lack of human contact, and deception need to be thoroughly considered when implementing social robots in care for frail older people.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.