Older adults´ medication management in the home: How can robots help?

Successful management of medications is critical to maintaining healthy and independent living for older adults. However, medication non-adherence is a common problem with a high risk for severe consequences [5], which can jeopardize older adults´ chances to age in place [1]. Well-designed robots assisting with medication management tasks could support older adults´ independence. Design of successful robots will be enhanced through understanding concerns, attitudes, and preferences for medication assistance tasks. We assessed older adults´ reactions to medication hand-off from a mobile manipulator with 12 participants (68-79 years). We identified factors that affected their attitudes toward a mobile manipulator for supporting general medication management tasks in the home. The older adults were open to robot assistance; however, their preferences varied depending on the nature of the medication management task. For instance, they preferred a robot (over a human) to remind them to take medications, but preferred human assistance for deciding what medication to take and for administering the medication. Factors such as perceptions of one´s own capability and robot reliability ifluenced their attitudes.