Abstract
In previous studies, researchers have highlighted the potential of robots and ger on technologies to address the current caregiver shortage and enhance elderly care home services and systems. Yet most established robot-driven elderly care services and systems often fail to deliver value in actual service environments. Therefore, our study explores design features of robot-driven elderly care home services and systems from a service ecosystem perspective. To address this, we adopted an ecosystem theory incorporating economic, environmental, cultural, and social systems, and conducted multiple field observations in four care homes in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, we found most robot services and systems were overlooked by both the service staff and the elderly. In response to this failure, we performed a co-design workshop, inviting service designers and robotics experts to identify design and system features for robot-driven elderly care homes and services. Our study makes two key contributions. First, it theoretically proposes a conceptual framework that outlines the design and system features of robot- driven elderly care services and systems. Second, it practically suggests a feasible design guideline for the robot design industry to develop robots and solutions within the context of elderly care settings.
Keywords
Robot-driven elderly care home; Service robots; Service ecosystem; Co-design
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.297
Citation
Yang, S., Park, J.,and Han, T.(2025) Toward Robot-Driven Elderly Care Home Services and Systems in Hong Kong: An Ecosystem Perspective, in Chang, C.-Y., and Hsu, Y. (eds.), IASDR 2025: Design Next, 02-05 December, Taiwan. https://doi.org/10.21606/iasdr.2025.297
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Track 9 - Healthcare Design
Toward Robot-Driven Elderly Care Home Services and Systems in Hong Kong: An Ecosystem Perspective
In previous studies, researchers have highlighted the potential of robots and ger on technologies to address the current caregiver shortage and enhance elderly care home services and systems. Yet most established robot-driven elderly care services and systems often fail to deliver value in actual service environments. Therefore, our study explores design features of robot-driven elderly care home services and systems from a service ecosystem perspective. To address this, we adopted an ecosystem theory incorporating economic, environmental, cultural, and social systems, and conducted multiple field observations in four care homes in Hong Kong. Surprisingly, we found most robot services and systems were overlooked by both the service staff and the elderly. In response to this failure, we performed a co-design workshop, inviting service designers and robotics experts to identify design and system features for robot-driven elderly care homes and services. Our study makes two key contributions. First, it theoretically proposes a conceptual framework that outlines the design and system features of robot- driven elderly care services and systems. Second, it practically suggests a feasible design guideline for the robot design industry to develop robots and solutions within the context of elderly care settings.