Facilitating the emergence of assistive robots to support frailty: psychosocial and environmental realities

While assistive robots have much potential to help older people with frailty-related needs, there are few in use. There is a gap between what is developed in laboratories and what would be viable in real-world contexts. Through a series of co-design workshops (61 participants across 7 sessions) including those with lived experience of frailty, their carers, and healthcare professionals, we gained a deeper understanding of everyday issues concerning the place of new technologies in their lives. A persona-based approach surfaced emotional, social, and psychological issues. Any assistive solution must be developed in the context of this complex interplay of psychosocial and environmental factors. Our findings, presented as design requirements in direct relation to frailty, can help promote design thinking that addresses people’s needs in a more pragmatic way to move assistive robotics closer to real-world use.