" Socially Pertinent Robot in Gerontological Healthcare "

NCT05089799 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: APHP201352
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 115
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The SPRING project intends to develop a social assistance robot, called ARI, capable of interacting with several users (patients, families) in noisy and busy hospital environments to inform, guide and entertain them and to support care workers in these environments. The AP-HP researchers participating in the SPRING project wish to evaluate human-robot interactions in a day care hospital and in particular the acceptability and the uses of the robot.

Conditions

Patient Participation; Patient Relations, Nurse; Professional Role

Keywords

Socially Assistive Robots; Gerontological Healthcare; acceptance; usability; organizational and ethic impact

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Acceptability E-Scale (AE-S)

  This criterion will be evaluated with patients, informal or family caregivers and professionals, on the basis of the French version of the "Acceptability E-Scale" (AE-S), a six items questionnaire rated with a Likert scale from 1 to 5 (Micoulaud-Franchi et al., 2016). The items have been adapted for a use with a robot. On the day of the appointment at the day care hospital for patients and their informal or family caregivers. During the experiment for professionals. One session, approximatively 10 minutes length.

  Inclusion visit

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• System Usability Scale (SUS)

  Inclusion visit

• Semi-structured interview (10 questions) based on the USUS model (Hebesberger et al., 2017)

  Inclusion visit

• Semi-structured interview (6 questions)

  Inclusion visit

Study Arms (3)

Patients

Older adults 60 years old or older They are referred to the day care hospital for memory problems or frailty and may present with various cognitive, behavioural, mental and physical disorders. Persons in this group are diverse in socio-cultural levels. The investigators expect to include 100 patients (N = 100). Each patient will test 1 out of the 5 use cases, so 20 patients will test the same use case (n = 20).

Behavioral: Exposure and interaction with a socially assistive robot

Informal carers or family caregivers

This group includes persons who accompany patients during the hospital visit, such as family members (spouses or children) and friends. They provide support to the patient with various frequency and intensity (occasional / regular / continuous). Persons in this group are diverse in age and socio-cultural levels. They may also suffer from physical and/or psychological disorders. The investigators expect to include 100 informal or family caregivers (N = 100). Each one will test 1 out of the 5 use cases, so 20 informal or family caregivers will test the same use case (n= 20).

Behavioral: Exposure and interaction with a socially assistive robot

Professionals

All categories of professionals working in the day care hospital. Persons in this group belong to different professional categories (administrative, health, technical). They have different levels of proximity with the public and have various positions in the hospital. The investigators expect to include 50 professionals.

Behavioral: Exposure and interaction with a socially assistive robot

Interventions

Exposure and interaction with a socially assistive robot BEHAVIORAL

Description of scenarios involving robot and users 1. welcoming patients and family members l: the robot explains its own functionalities and answers persons 'questions. 2. providing a reminder about sanitary gestures (prevention of virus transmission). In addition, it could mediate a conversation between two or more people so that they keep the appropriate physical distance between them. 3. providing patients with an assistance to prepare the medical consultations : the robot helps patients to fill in paper forms for professionals. The robot also provides information on the course of consultations and the users 'rights in the hospital. 4. providing orientation and guidance to the consultation rooms and the available services : the robot helps people to find their way around the hospital. 5. Providing entertainment to patients and families during the waiting time: the robot offers activities to patients and caregivers

Informal carers or family caregivers; Patients; Professionals

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The population includes the 3 categories of actors attending the day care hospital: patients, their carers (family or close carers) and professionals. The investigators will consider all the actors who are likely to interact with the ARI social robot, including people who are not formally part of the patients' care pathway, but whose presence is important to their care. The individuals included will have various profiles, from a demographic, sociological and clinical point of view. The patients and their carers mainly live in the Paris region. Patients mainly consult the day care hospital for memory problems, but are likely to display associated cognitive, behavioural or physical problems.

You may qualify if:

• PATIENTS
• Age 60 and over
• Enough knowledge in French language
• Without distinction of gender, socio-professional categories or ethnic origin
• MMSE \> 10
• No symptoms of altered reality (delirium, hallucination, frontal disinhibition, etc.).
• Having expressed his/her non-opposition to his/her participation in the study or to being in the presence of the robot
• If the persons are protected adults under guardianship, the tutor or legal guardian has expressed his/her non-opposition to participate in the study or to be in the presence of the robot for the person concerned.
• ACCOMPANYING PERSONS
• They are all adults who have enough knowledge in French language.
• They are enrolled without distinction of gender, socio-professional categories or ethnic origin
• They have expressed his/her non-opposition to participate in the study
• PROFESSIONALS:
• Age 18 and over.
• Has expressed his/her non-opposition to participate in the study

You may not qualify if:

• PATIENTS
• They have expressed, or where applicable, their family, guardian or legal representative, their opposition to participate in the study or their opposition to be in the presence of the robot.
• PAtients benefiying of Medical State Aid (French AME)
• ACCOMPANYING PERSONS They are under 18. They do not have enough knowledge in French language to understand simple instructions. They have expressed their opposition to participate in the study or their opposition to be in the presence of the robot.
• PROFESSIONNALS They have expressed their opposition to participate in the study or their opposition to be in the presence of the robot.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris: lead
• Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et en Automatique: collaborator
• Università degli Studi di Trento: collaborator
• Czech Technical University in Prague: collaborator
• Heriot-Watt University: collaborator
• ERM Automatismes Industriels (ERM): collaborator
• Pal Robotics SL (PAL): collaborator
• URC-CIC Paris Descartes Necker Cochin: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) - Broca Hospital - Geriatric unit

Paris, Île-de-France Region, 75013, France

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Blavette L, Dacunha S, Alameda-Pineda X, Hernandez Garcia D, Gannot S, Gras F, Gunson N, Lemaignan S, Polic M, Tandeitnik P, Tonini F, Rigaud AS, Pino M. Acceptability and Usability of a Socially Assistive Robot Integrated With a Large Language Model for Enhanced Human-Robot Interaction in a Geriatric Care Institution: Mixed Methods Evaluation. JMIR Hum Factors. 2025 Aug 1;12:e76496. doi: 10.2196/76496.

  PMID: 40750072 BACKGROUND

Related Links

• The page presents the SPRING project and all the contributors of the project.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Patient Participation

Interventions

Drug Interactions

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pharmacological Phenomena; Pharmacological and Toxicological Phenomena; Physiological Phenomena

Study Officials

• RIGAUD Anne-Sophie

  Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE ONLY
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 11, 2021
• First Posted: October 22, 2021
• Study Start: October 20, 2022
• Primary Completion: July 25, 2024
• Study Completion: July 25, 2024
• Last Updated: September 12, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP
• Time Frame: The IPD collected by the robot will be available from the start of the study and kept for up to two years after the first publications.
• Access Criteria: The data collected by the robot will be stored on a server at the AP-HP at BLL and then transmitted to INRIA engineers according to a secure transfer protocol with cryptographic method: End to end encryption (https, SSH, key/certificate authentication). The data will be transmitted to the SPRING project partners according to secure transfer and storage protocols, validated by the INRIA Defence Security Officer, to ensure the best conditions of confidentiality and security.

Locations

FR (1)