Towards a situation-and-user-aware multi-modal motorized toilet system to assist older adults with disabilities: A user requirements study

Abstract

In the recent decades state of the art technologies appeared in many areas to assist older adults with disabilities. However, one very essential activity of daily life, the toileting remained without any relevant development. The iToilet project of the European Union focuses on the development of an intelligent and motorized toilet system to enable independent toilet use for older adults with disabilities. To begin the development, the user requirements of end-users were assessed by means of focus group interviews and questionnaires. The survey was conducted in Austria and Hungary with the participation of 74 persons in total (41 subjects with movement disorders, 21 caregivers and 12 healthcare managers). From the interviews, the ranking of functions and features based on the number of their mentions was derived. The raw ranking was modulated by the average ratings from the questionnaires that resulted in the final list of priorities. Our results suggest that a safe and intelligent motorized toilet system should have foldable handrails on both sides (especially for wheelchair users), motorized height and tilt adjusting mechanism for the toilet bowl, fixed toilet paper holder on both sides and emergency recognition with call function. Simple operation, storage and retrieval of user specific settings including bowl height, and user identification were also deemed as very important features, while the possibility to control functions with gestures was valued rather low.

A robotic shower system

“…The project iToilet [ 16 , 19 ] develops an ICT-enhanced toilet system supporting older adults and their care giver in this basic ADL. Comparable to I‑SUPPORT a user-centered approach is applied and PU, SU and other stakeholders are involved in the technological developmental process.…”

“…Comparable to I‑SUPPORT a user-centered approach is applied and PU, SU and other stakeholders are involved in the technological developmental process. Recent publications [ 18 , 19 ] focussed on user requirements. Ethical issues are considered in the study design of the pilots and as a rationale for the project [ 18 ].…”

“…Here the ethical dimensions autonomy/independence, empowerment and dignity are mentioned. Similar to I‑SUPPORT, PU and SU are not hesitant to discuss requirements from their perspectives despite the subject being surrounded by even more taboos [ 18 , 19 ].…”

Acceptance of care technologies to support activities of daily living by middle-aged and older adults in Japan: A cross-sectional study

“…A robotic wheelchair was developed to improve safety and accessibility for wheelchair users when facing architectural barriers, and the wheelchair could also assist older persons in moving around indoors ( Candiotti et al., 2019 ). In addition, an intelligent, motorized toilet system was developed to enable older adults with disabilities to independently use the toilet ( Pilissy et al., 2017 ).…”