The Effect of Senior Welfare Center’s Program using Robots on Social Health of Older adults

Abstract

This study attempted to verify the effect of robots on the social health of older adults using Social welfare centers. A total of eight programs (60 minutes per session) were conducted from February 2022 for men and women aged 60 or older in the control group (n=35) and experimental groups (Silbot users, n=14; Bomi users, n=21). The paired t-test and the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and hierarchical regression analysis were used to compare the outcome variables of the experimental group (Silbot users, Bomi users) and the control group. As a result, it was confirmed that the group participating in the 'Silbot' program had a positive effect on both social support and subjective isolation compared to the control group, and the group using 'Bomi' confirmed a partial positive effect only on social support. The results of this study have the significance of overcoming the limitations of previous studies that looked at the effectiveness of the cognitive function of the elderly with cognitive decline, and extending the effectiveness of robot utilization programs to social health variables for the older adults using welfare centers for the older adults. This study verifies the effectiveness of group programs using robots for social health promotion and expands the function of robots in senior welfare centers to increase the need for developing various contents. In addition, it was suggested that organizations such as senior welfare centers should seek and discover ways to utilize elderly-friendly technologies such as robots.