Socially Assistive Robots in Service Innovation Context to Improve Aged-Care Quality A Grounded Theory Approach Seyed Mohammad Sadegh Khaksar, Rajiv Khosla and Mei-Tai Chu Dept. of Management, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3086 Melbourne Australia skhaksar@students.latrobe.edu.au R.Khosla@latrobe.edu.au M.Chu@latrobe.edu.au Abstract—This study presents a model inspired from a grounded theory methodology based on the successful performance of socially assistive robots in aged-care facilities. Conducting 17 in-depth interviews with nurses and scientists who worked with these robots, we investigated how social robot engagement can lead to the quality of life for aged people. The qualitative findings show 4 categories including socially assistive robots, robot mediation, service enablement and aged-care service innovation. The findings support modelling and implementing aged-care service innovation by social assistive robots. Keywords— SARs; grounded theory methodology, HRI, service enablement, robot mediation, aged-care service innovation component I. INTRODUCTION Senescence is an undeniable part of life affecting on mental and physical capabilities. According to ABS [1], the number of aged people accounts for %14 of the total Australian population. It is also reported that this ratio is dramatically rising. Restrictions on brain function leading to disability in doing routines [2, 3] and less-involvement in social activities are likely to be the big issues for aged people in recent years. However, assistive technologies such as socially assistive robots (SARs) can play a mediating role in improving the quality of life through the emphasis on social interactions [4, 5] in which high efficiency of services can influence the quality of care in the long-term [6-8]. Recent studies have relied on the importance of aged care service innovation by engaging aged people in social activities. For example, the study by de Graaf, et al. [9] shows how innovation in SARs build the long-term relationships between robot and aged person using verbal and non-verbal communications, followed by the study done by Datta, et al. [10] that highlights improved quality of care through SARs enabling aged people to independently decide about their daily activities. Similarly, Mann, et al. [11] focus on innovative tasks of robots in an aged-care facility and conclude that social characteristics of HRI play a crucial role in aged care services by allowing the care-givers to spend less time with the residents and helping them with self-care and self-learning. However, Sehili, et al. [12] evaluate the performance of a social robot in a social context and point out that SARs as comprehensive assistants, can facilitate interactions among aged people resulting in the prevention of isolation and depression. Although the previous studies have illustrated positive consequences of the mediating role of SARs in providing aged-care services, considerations have to be made for the tasks of SARs to ensure that services provided can be reliably acceptable and appropriate. This might request grounding a new theory relying on SARs capabilities in engaging aged people in a social context, and improving their independence. This paper aims to ground a theoretical model from human- robot interaction (HRI) with emphasis on the capabilities of SARs to enable the aged people to be more independent and sociable. This paper is intended to contribute to a better understanding of the concept of aged-care service innovation in the context of SARs in care facilities. To do so, there is a need for in-depth interviews with scholars and care-givers, who observed robot involvement with aged people in a social context. Consequently, the grounded theory methodology (GTM) is applied to develop an accurate understanding of the experiences, events and the reality of the phenomenon associated with the success of SARs implementation. II. LITERATURE REVIEW Previous studies in healthcare services targeted the improvement of quality of life for people with special needs. In particular, SARs aim to maintain aged people independent and engaged with others in a social context [13, 14]. The first generation of aged-care social robots only re-provide the physical services such as carrying and picking objects in which service was delivered without any social connectivity and interaction. In the mid-2000s, the second generation of 161 978-1-4673-7338-8/15/$31.00 c 2015 IEEE