Integrating Assistive Robots into Professional Caregivers’ Workflow in Aging Healthcare

Abstract

The increasing demands of an aging population have intensified the strain on caregiving resources. Assistive robots, such as Stretch, offer a promising way to ease caregiver workload and improve the quality of care. We evaluated the Stretch™ robot, a mobile manipulator designed for direct interaction with older adults and caregivers, using a mixed-methods approach in a home simulation environment. Six professional caregivers participated by completing surveys, interviews, and hands-on interaction sessions with the assistive robot, including tasks such as remote video calls and item delivery. Key areas assessed included trust, usability, workload, and technology familiarity. Results indicated a rise in trust toward the robot after the interactions, high usability scores, and reports of medium-to-low perceived workload. Caregivers highlighted Stretch’s effective object handling and its potential to assist with daily caregiving tasks. Although some participants were initially skeptical, their impressions became more positive after observing, interacting, and operating the robot. Overall, the findings suggest that assistive robots could be effectively integrated into caregiving workflows without adding to caregiver burden. Future work will focus on improving Stretch’s autonomous capabilities and refining the user interface to support broader adoption in real-world aging care environments.