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What Do Older Adults and Clinicians Think About Traditional Mobility Aids and Exoskeleton Technology?

Authors:

Geke D. S. LuddenAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction (THRI), Volume 8, Issue 2

Article No.: 10, Pages 1 - 17

https://doi.org/10.1145/3311789

Published: 03 June 2019 Publication History

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Abstract

Mobility impairments can prevent older adults from performing their daily activities, which highly impacts quality of life. Powered exoskeletons, which are wearable robotic devices, can assist older adults by providing additional support to compensate for age-related decline in muscle strength. To date, little is known about the opinions and needs of older adults regarding exoskeletons, as current research primarily focuses on the technical development of exoskeleton devices and on groups with more severe mobility impairments such as people with spinal cord injuries. Therefore, the aim of this article is to inform the design of exoskeletons for older adults from a person-centered perspective. Interviews were conducted with seven older adults and six clinicians. Results indicated that exoskeletons can be a valuable addition to existing mobility devices to support older adults during walking and other actions necessary to perform their daily activities. Although reactions towards the concept of exoskeleton technology were positive, older adults did not currently perceive the need for an exoskeleton device. Exoskeletons for older adults should be easy to use; preferably, users should be able to put the device on and take it off independently. Moreover, the appearance of the exoskeleton should be as inconspicuous as possible, as most older adults do not like to advertise their need for assistive devices. At this point in time, the willingness to use exoskeleton technology will depend on personal needs and preferences.

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Cited By

Pîrșcoveanu COliveira AFranch JMadeleine P(2024)Absolute and Relative Reliability of Spatiotemporal Gait Characteristics Extracted from an Inertial Measurement Unit among Senior Adults Using a Passive Hip Exoskeleton: A Test–Retest StudySensors10.3390/s2416521324:16(5213)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165213
Reicherzer LScheermesser MKläy ADuarte JGraf E(2024)Barriers and Facilitators to the Use of Wearable Robots as Assistive Devices: Qualitative Study With Older Adults and PhysiotherapistsJMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies10.2196/5267611(e52676-e52676)Online publication date: 9-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.2196/52676
Raitor MRuggles SDelp SLiu CCollins S(2024)Lower-Limb Exoskeletons Appeal to Both Clinicians and Older Adults, Especially for Fall Prevention and Joint Pain ReductionIEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering10.1109/TNSRE.2024.338197932(1577-1585)Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2024.3381979
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

What Do Older Adults and Clinicians Think About Traditional Mobility Aids and Exoskeleton Technology?
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Interaction design
    1. Interaction design process and methods
      1. User centered design
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing profession
      1. Assistive technologies
  2. User characteristics
    1. Age
      1. Seniors

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Published In

cover image ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction

ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction Volume 8, Issue 2

June 2019

136 pages

EISSN:2573-9522

DOI:10.1145/3339062

Editors:
Odest Chadwicke Jenkins
University of Michigan, USA
,
Selma Sabanovic
Indiana University, USA

Issue’s Table of Contents

Copyright © 2019 Owner/Author.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of part or all of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for third-party components of this work must be honored. For all other uses, contact the Owner/Author.

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 03 June 2019

Accepted: 01 January 2019

Revised: 01 November 2018

Received: 01 April 2018

Published in THRI Volume 8, Issue 2

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Cited By

Pîrșcoveanu COliveira AFranch JMadeleine P(2024)Absolute and Relative Reliability of Spatiotemporal Gait Characteristics Extracted from an Inertial Measurement Unit among Senior Adults Using a Passive Hip Exoskeleton: A Test–Retest StudySensors10.3390/s2416521324:16(5213)Online publication date: 12-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/s24165213
Reicherzer LScheermesser MKläy ADuarte JGraf E(2024)Barriers and Facilitators to the Use of Wearable Robots as Assistive Devices: Qualitative Study With Older Adults and PhysiotherapistsJMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies10.2196/5267611(e52676-e52676)Online publication date: 9-Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.2196/52676
Raitor MRuggles SDelp SLiu CCollins S(2024)Lower-Limb Exoskeletons Appeal to Both Clinicians and Older Adults, Especially for Fall Prevention and Joint Pain ReductionIEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering10.1109/TNSRE.2024.338197932(1577-1585)Online publication date: 2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2024.3381979
Perera CGopalai AGouwanda DNurzaman S(2024)A Focused Review on Soft Robotic Exosuits for Sitting to Standing TransfersRobotics Reports10.1089/rorep.2023.00252:1(65-84)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2024
https://doi.org/10.1089/rorep.2023.0025
Gan WRaja Ghazilla RYap HSelvarajoo S(2024)Industrial practitioner's perception on the application of exoskeleton system in automotive assembly industries: A Malaysian case studyHeliyon10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26183(e26183)Online publication date: Feb-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26183
Kim JJeon SByun HYi E(2023)Exploring E-Health Literacy and Technology-Use Anxiety among Older Adults in KoreaHealthcare10.3390/healthcare1111155611:11(1556)Online publication date: 25-May-2023
https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11111556
Yang JMoon JRyu JKim JNam KPark SKim YLee G(2023)Design of a Quasi-Direct Drive Actuator with Embedded Pulley for a Compact, Lightweight, and High-Bandwidth ExosuitActuators10.3390/act1201002112:1(21)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2023
https://doi.org/10.3390/act12010021
Andersson RBjörsell N(2023)The Technical Challenges in Orthotic Exoskeleton Robots with Future Directions: a Review Paper2023 International Conference on IT Innovation and Knowledge Discovery (ITIKD)10.1109/ITIKD56332.2023.10099850(1-8)Online publication date: 8-Mar-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/ITIKD56332.2023.10099850
Kuoppamäki SJaberibraheem RHellstrand MMcMillan D(2023)Designing Multi-Modal Conversational Agents for the Kitchen with Older Adults: A Participatory Design StudyInternational Journal of Social Robotics10.1007/s12369-023-01055-415:9-10(1507-1523)Online publication date: 26-Sep-2023
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Vijayan VFang SReissman TReissman MKinney A(2022)How Does Added Mass Affect the Gait of Middle-Aged Adults? An Assessment Using Statistical Parametric MappingSensors10.3390/s2216615422:16(6154)Online publication date: 17-Aug-2022
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