Evaluating the Effectiveness of Digital Social Robots in Reducing Loneliness Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Japan: Randomized Controlled Trial and Qualitative Analysis - PMC
#summary
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Digital Social Robots in Reducing Loneliness Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Japan: Randomized Controlled Trial and Qualitative Analysis - PMC
Researchers randomized 73 lonely, community-dwelling older people to four weeks of BOCCO emo or usual life; 68 completed follow-up. The loneliness-scale change favored the device by 3.1 points (95% CI −5.9 to −0.4), and reported well-being improved. Operators took the participants’ messages and wrote personalized replies voiced by the device; family members could send messages as well, while quizzes and reminders were automated. The trial did not test an autonomous AI carer or a replacement for in-person dementia care. It was small, unblinded, short and mostly women, and did not measure care costs or worker substitution.