Social Robots in Dementia Care and Wellness

This Research Topic invites contributions exploring the role of social robots in dementia care, with a particular focus on cognitive stimulation, social interaction, and meaningful engagement. Social robots have shown promising results in engaging people with different levels of dementia. However, there are ongoing debates about the effectiveness of these robots, their design and utility, ethical integration into care routines, feasibility in clinical workflow, e-consultation and e-therapy, digital literacy, UX/UI for individuals with dementia and their caregivers, and how these elements are best understood by these end-users. Significant studies have highlighted the potential of social robots in dementia care and companionship, but there is a need for further investigation into the facilitators, barriers, and strategies in co-designing these robots with individuals with dementia and their caregivers.

We encourage submissions that explore feasibility, co-design, implementation, and practice-based review and analysis. There is also an urgent need to examine how individuals with dementia experience and co-create these technologies, and how we can meaningfully assess their outcomes through both qualitative and quantitative approaches. We welcome diverse contributions, including empirical studies, methodological papers, pilot evaluations, and critical reviews and analysis.  

To gather further insights into the use of social robots in dementia care, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes: 

- The design and utility of social robots in dementia care. 

- The effectiveness of social robots in cognitive stimulation. 

- The interaction level of social robots with people living with dementia. 

- The use of systematic video analysis in assessing user-robot interaction. 

- The facilitators, barriers, and strategies in co-designing social robots with older adults with dementia. 

- Co-design and participatory development of social robots with older adults living with dementia.

- Feasibility and acceptability studies of social robots in care settings and wellness programs.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Case Report
• Classification
• Clinical Trial
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Social robots, dementia care, cognitive stimulation, social interaction, robots co-design, engagement, robots, gerontechnology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.