HELPII: A social service robot for Australian Aged Care

Why it matters

Personal care workers strive to deliver quality care, but the demanding environment of aged care often limits their availability to engage in more meaningful, person-centred interactions. They spend a significant portion of their time performing routine, mundane tasks like cleaning, tidying and transporting items. The shortage of skilled aged care staff to meet the needs of the increasing elderly population has led to increased workloads for existing caregivers, resulting in burnout, higher staff turnover, and increased recruitment and training costs. The reduced and often changing care staff can negatively impact residents’ quality of care, resulting in “missed” or “unfinished” care, where residents wait because staff are busy elsewhere. For example, Miller (2021) documents how one aged care resident felt that staff were “always rushed, always sharing everybody and everything…” (p.122). This paints a stark picture of the challenges faced in aged care due to workforce shortage and increased elderly population.

To create more time for staff to interact with residents and reduce the physically demanding aspects of the care role, automation, assistive and advanced technology (such as robots) must be better integrated into residential aged care settings. By leveraging technology, caregivers can optimise their workflow and focus more on engaging with residents while technology handles specific tasks. Although technology has the potential to help alleviate some of the challenges facing care staff, the adoption of service robots into residential aged care – especially those focused on reducing the physical workload by assisting with chores – remains limited and piecemeal. Despite decades of experimentation, technological advancements and increased adoption, service robots are not mainstream in aged care practices. Due to technological, regulatory and societal considerations, robots have faced difficulties in being adopted and integrated into daily practices, particularly when end-user engagement is restricted to the final implementation stage. Given the workforce shortage and the increase in the elderly population globally, more industry leaders and boards of directors are looking to adopt social and service robots in the hopes of improving older adults’ quality of life. Yet our research shows that implementing these robots could not guarantee their proper usability, performance, and acceptance.

Project Overview

The project aims to involve various multi-tiered users directly in the design process (from decision-makers to residents), ensuring that the final product truly meets their requirements by giving them an active role in knowledge development, idea generation, and concept development. Numerous design factors need to be addressed and taken into account when considering the development and implementation of robotic technology, more specifically human-robot collaboration. Some of these are safety, the context and environment of robot use, the purpose of the use or task definition, the experience of users, control of the robot, size and weight. All these factors for the aged care sector are relevant to the design of a chore robot, which requires input from stakeholders beyond researchers, engineers, and designers. Therefore, including the perspectives of experts from the aged care sector is a first step in developing a chore robot that can work alongside humans safely and collaboratively, one that is fit for purpose, aesthetic, user friendly, and acceptable to residents and families, and that aged care decision-makers would support and pay for.

We leveraged an existing real-world functional prototype of a chore robot, HELPII, from our robotic colleagues at the QUT Centre for Robotics. HELPII features a mobile base, grasping technology, AI-enabled voice command, and a personality. Thus far, this project has conducted six studies, engaging a diverse group of stakeholders, including aged care leaders and staff members in care, hospitality, and service. Through co-design workshops, interviews, and focus groups, we asked them to reflect on their experiences with service robots, collaboratively imagine and co-design the future of robots in aged care.

The objectives of the project are:

  1. Identifying the tasks or activities where robotic assistance is most valuable.
  2. Assessing expectations and past experiences of robots in aged care.
  3. Conceptualising the ideal chore robot’s appearance, features, and functionality.
  4. Developing and testing a functional prototype in real-world settings (RACFs).

The research project offers a comprehensive multi-layered perspective on implementing and integrating robotics in a real-world setting. Through our research, we advocate for a robust support system that involves early stakeholder engagement through Participatory Design, a gradual implementation plan, and consistent training. We also argue that social behaviours and interactions are as essential for staff as the efficient functionality of these social service robots.

Project Outcomes

Published Publications

Macalupu Chira, V. A., Caldwell, G., & Miller, E. (2024). Enhancing Aged Care through Human-Robot Collaboration: A Case Study of Chore Robots. OzCHI ’24: Proceedings of the 36th Australian Computer-Human Interaction Conference. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/255075/

Macalupu, V., Miller, E., Martin, L., & Caldwell, G. (2025). Human–robot interactions and experiences of staff and service robots in aged care. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 2495. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-86255-w

 

Publications in progress                                                    

Macalupu, V., Miller, Caldwell, G. (2025) Designing the Robot-Environment-User Experience in Residential Aged Care [Manuscript in progress].

 

Project Team

 

Funding/Grants

ARC Linkage project no LP12345678

 

Reference list

Eagar, K., Westera, A., Snoek, M., Kobel, C., Loggie, C & Gordon, R (2019). How Australian residential aged care staffing levels compare with international and national benchmarks. Centre for Health Service Development, Australian Health Services Research Institute, University of Wollongong.

Briggs, L., & Pagone, T. (2021). Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Final Report: Care, Diginity and Respect. Canberra: Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

Ludlow, K., Churruca, K., Mumford, V., Ellis, L. A., & Braithwaite, J. (2020). Staff m

embers’ prioritisation of care in residential aged care facilities: a Q methodology study. BMC health services research, 20, 1-14.

Miller, E. (2021). Creative Arts-Based Research in Aged Care: Photovoice, Photography and Poetry in Action. Routledge.  pp 122, 123.