Technology that listens: Benefits and challenges of voice assistants for the elderly

Medical Xpress September 26, 2024
Pablo Ramos, Open University of Catalonia

Loneliness has become a very important social problem in recent decades. The unwanted emotions it can cause have a direct impact on people’s psychological well-being and are related to an increased risk of isolation, a decline in quality of life, poorer health, and even increased mortality. This situation is aggravated among older people, since they are a social group that is particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon.

A team of researchers at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) has conducted a review of studies on the ability of voice assistants to reduce feelings of loneliness among older people.

“The primary objective of our work was to examine the evidence on the impact of the use of voice assistants on loneliness among...

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