Mobile service robots are increasingly adopted in long-term care homes to improve the quality of life of people with dementia. While increasing research has documented the deployment of these robots, few studies have conceptualised the pathways through which they affect quality of life. This article reviews literature in this area and proposes strategies for future mobile service robot development.
A comprehensive literature search was conducted on Web of Science, CINAHL, APA, PsycINFO, IEEE Xplore and Science Direct to identify relevant articles. A narrative approach was adopted to review the literature.
In total, 41 full-text items were reviewed, including quantitative and qualitative empirical studies. Results found that mobile service robots have the potential to improve the quality of life of people with dementia through seven pathways. The most common pathways were leisure, work, social relationships and emotional responses. Several articles observed that mobile service robots enhanced quality of life via mobility and health. Only limited articles discussed the pathway of residential well-being.
Future research on the relationship of mobile service robots and quality of life should include more randomised controlled trials, longer study periods and larger sample size of older people, especially those living with dementia. Implications for future robot development could benefit from a socio-technical systems perspective, participatory design processes and value of human care.
The comprehensive identification of pathways contributes to future directions for developing mobile service robots that are responsive to raising the quality of life of people with dementia in long-term care settings.
