NCT05423899

Humanoid Robot vs Treatment as Usual for Loneliness

Humanoid Robot Intervention vs Treatment as Usual For Loneliness in Long-term Care Homes

• Status: Withdrawn
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 0 (actual)
• Sponsor: Lady Davis Institute · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 60 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The investigators are aiming to compare the effects of a humanoid robot intervention to treatment as usual, on loneliness and mental health outcomes in older adults living in long-term care, through an assessor-blinded randomized controlled trial.

Detailed description

Seventy-four (n=74) older adults experiencing loneliness in 3 long-term care homes will be randomized 1:1 to an 8-week, twice a week social intervention with the Grace humanoid robot vs. a treatment as usual active control. The investigators will assess change (baseline to week 8) in (1) loneliness (primary outcome), (2) depression severity and (3) stress (secondary outcomes), as well as (4) other exploratory outcomes : anxiety, quality of life and reduction in acute healthcare utilization. The investigators will also assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention using qualitative methods.

Conditions

• Loneliness
• Depression
• Stress
• Anxiety
• Quality of Life

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Grace Robot	The Grace robot was designed by Awakening Health/Hanson Robotics for healthcare settings and to interact with the elderly and those isolated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grace is a robot with a human-like appearance, which can move, actively listen, engage in conversation and react appropriately to human emotions. Intervention activities will mostly consist of active listening and general discussions about topics of interest (e.g. hobbies, music). The participant will also have the option of other types of interactions with the robot, including robot-led meditation, robot-led light exercise, listening to music and singing. Because loneliness is a subjective experience and does not have a standardized solution, this is a personalized intervention approach. We anticipate that each older adult participant will have different needs and wishes when interacting with the robot, which will allow for a more natural interaction with the robot.
BEHAVIORAL	Treatment as Usual	The treatment as usual active control group will not receive the robot intervention. The investIgators have deliberately chosen the participating long-term care (LTC) homes due to their high frequency of social interactions for their clients as part of their routine care (e.g. one-on-one and group activities, family interaction, exercise groups) compared to most LTC homes settings, making TAU an active control.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-09-01
• Primary completion: 2023-03-01
• Completion: 2023-03-30
• First posted: 2022-06-21
• Last updated: 2025-04-16