Phase 3 of testing the MARIO robot at the residential care setting pilot site in Ireland consisted of the execution of the assessment methodology, to provide evidence related to the benefits/impacts of the use of a service (companion).
The qualitative and quantitative data collection for the final evaluation phase of the MARIO project was completed in the Irish pilot site between August and September 2017 In total, 29 participants were involved in this phase, 10 of which were people with dementia. The findings provide evidence as to the benefits associated with the use of service/companion robots and establish that service/companion robots are an acceptable part of social care for people with dementia and have an important role to play in combatting the loneliness and isolation
MARIO is gaining popularity in Ireland. Last December, MARIO featured on the Irish national RTÉ News. Have a look at the broadcast by RTÉ, which is the highest rated viewership programme in Ireland.
Not many projects have the opportunity to receive a visit by a national TV – and quite few are having the opportunity to have a visit by the Korean TV. Seoul is ranked as the world's leading digital city and a tech capital of the world, and South Korea is also among the world's most technologically advanced and digitally-connected countries – which seems like a natural setting for uptake of the innovative aspects of our project.
For the Community Setting Pilot in Stockport a series of demonstrations and interactions with the robot was planned with a variety of Dementia Friendly Communities in and around Stockport as well as across Greater Manchester.
This enabled the team in Stockport to assess initially the acceptability of a companion robot and test with both people living with Dementia and their family and carers whether they would get on with a robot in the community.
Stockport lies at the edge of the Peak District and is a city in England’s Northwest with a population of around 280,000 and have a long term commitment to working around the field of Ageing. Stockport were part of Greater Manchester’s 3 star reference site award from the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing and have made long term commitments around becoming an Age Friendly City.
Stockport have been really keen to get involved with Project MARIO from initial plans for the project and have been consistent partners in many European Cooperation projects related to Active and Healthy Ageing with both Interreg Projects such as Cities in Balance, SeNS and also AAL programmes such as EldersUP!.
Subscribe to our newsletter, get updates on events and express you interest in participating in reserarch.
Co-funded by the European Union