Evaluating robots for older adults
A humane, evidence-aware checklist for accessibility, consent, caregiver involvement, reliability, and realistic expectations.
Products, prices, policies, and evidence change. Verify the current primary sources for the exact model and region before acting.
Support autonomy rather than surveillance
A useful care companion should be understandable, interruptible, and aligned with the older adult’s wishes. Features that reassure distant family members can feel invasive to the person sharing the room with the robot.
Treat reminders and social prompts as supports, not enforcement. The person should be able to pause, correct, or decline them without losing unrelated features.
Can volume, pace, contrast, and text size be adjusted?
Does it work for hearing, vision, speech, or dexterity differences?
Who controls the account and receives activity data?
Is there a clear human support channel?
What happens during power, Wi-Fi, or service outages?
Keep clinical claims in perspective
Companionship, engagement, and routine can be valuable, but a consumer robot is not a medical professional or emergency-response system unless its specific regulated role says otherwise. Look for evidence tied to the exact device, population, and outcome being claimed.
Trial the support system, not only the robot
Test setup, charging, updates, volume, captions, call quality, and error recovery with the actual user. A family member completing every task during a demonstration can hide an interface that is not independently usable.
Document who receives alerts, what happens when they are unavailable, and which features are merely wellness prompts. Never present a consumer companion as fall detection, emergency response, medication administration, or clinical monitoring unless the exact product and service are explicitly regulated and contracted for that role.
Can the user stop a prompt or call?
Can support communicate in the user's language?
Is there an alternative during outages?
Who decides when use should end?
Framework sources
These sources shape the questions in this guide. They do not certify any listed robot.