Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41197121›Full record

ArticleJournal of participatory medicine2025

Cultural Feasibility of Conversational Robots for Dementia Care in India: Participatory Design Study.

Maria R Lima, Nivedhitha Srinivasan, Sarah Daniels, Sridhar Vaitheswaran, Ravi Vaidyanathan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of participatory medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Maria R LimaDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6032-3042
Nivedhitha SrinivasanDementia Care, Schizophrenia Research Foundation India, Chennai, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1549-1837
Sarah DanielsCare Research and Technology Centre, UK Dementia Research Institute, London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7415-1907
Sridhar VaitheswaranDementia Care, Schizophrenia Research Foundation India, Chennai, India.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7848-7638
Ravi VaidyanathanDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9625-4544

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundDementia poses a significant challenge in India. The rising incidence rates, limited resources, and restricted clinician access have contributed to a staggering 90% gap in diagnosis and care. Conversational technology provides a natural user interface with the potential to promote the independence, well-being, and safety of people living with dementia at home. However, the feasibility of implementing such technology to support people living with dementia across diverse cultural and economic settings remains underexplored.

objectiveThis study aimed to assess the cultural feasibility of conversational robots for dementia care in India, a culturally underserved context in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) for aging and dementia care.

methodsWe involved 29 stakeholders, including people living with dementia, caregivers, and dementia care professionals. We evaluated (1) the engagement of people living with dementia with 3 conversational robots with varying interactive modalities (a voice agent, a virtual affective robot, and an embodied robot), (2) robot acceptance, and (3) stakeholder perspectives on the benefits and challenges of deploying conversational AI in India.

resultsPeople living with dementia were willing to engage in verbal dialogue with conversational robots. Stakeholders perceived the technology as beneficial for supporting daily tasks at home, reducing loneliness, and enhancing cognitive function. We identified design adaptations to address feasibility challenges in India, including the need to (1) adapt interaction style to use a kind tone, appreciative language, and customizable facial expressions; (2) improve speech recognition for local accents interpretation and noisy settings; and (3) introduce prototypes in local clinics to promote familiarity.

conclusionsThis work offers novel insights into cultural acceptance, human-robot engagement, and perceived utility for dementia care, along with key design implications for integrating conversational AI into care settings in India.

Indexed as

artificial intelligenceconversational artificial intelligencedementia carelow- and middle-income countriessocially assistive robots

Identifiers

PMID41197121
PMCPMC12635592

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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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.