Conversational Systems for Social Care in Older Adults: Protocol for a Scoping Review

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Computer Science
• Social Sciences

Background:

• Social care systems face increasing demographic and financial pressures globally.
• Conversational AI, including chatbots and voice assistants, offers potential for enhanced accessibility and efficiency in social care.
• The real-world impact, usability, and ethics of AI in social care for older adults require further exploration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize literature on the implementation, evaluation, and impact of conversational AI for older adults in social care.
• To identify best practices, research gaps, and future directions for conversational AI in social care.
• To answer how conversational systems are implemented, used by older adults, and evaluated for acceptability, usability, and well-being.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review following PRISMA-ScR and PCC frameworks.
• Systematic search of five databases (IEEE, Web of Science, PubMed, ACM, Scopus) for English articles from 2019 onwards.
• Inclusion of studies empirically examining conversational systems for adults aged ≥55 in social care, with data extraction and descriptive analysis.

Main Results:

• The scoping review commenced in March 2025, with analysis currently underway.
• Results are anticipated for completion and submission by September 2025.
• Findings will categorize conversational AI applications across accessibility, usability, ethics, and well-being outcomes.

Conclusions:

• This review will offer an overview of conversational AI's role in social care, detailing opportunities and challenges.
• Synthesized research will inform future developments of conversational agents for older adults.
• The study aims to improve social inclusion, engagement, and well-being among older adults through AI technologies.