Factors Influencing Conversational Engagement in Robot-Delivered Individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (iCST) for Dementia in Home Settings

• URL: http://arxiv.org/abs/2607.07998v1
• Date: Thu, 09 Jul 2026 00:04:35 GMT
• Title: Factors Influencing Conversational Engagement in Robot-Delivered Individual Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (iCST) for Dementia in Home Settings
• Abstract summary: Social robots offer a promising means of supporting cognitive therapies for dementia care.<n>This study analysed the interaction patterns from robot-delivered individual cognitive stimulation therapy sessions.
• Score: 0.5156484100374058
• License: http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/
• Abstract: Social robots offer a promising means of supporting cognitive therapies for dementia care by guiding structured conversation and therapeutic activities. However, little is known about the conversational dynamics that emerge during robot-delivered cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) sessions. This study analysed the interaction patterns from robot-delivered individual CST (iCST) sessions conducted with people living with dementia in home settings. Our Co-STAR (Cognitive Stimulation Therapy by an Autonomous Robot) system was deployed in the homes of eight PwDs for one week, who completed 30-minute sessions. Conversational metrics, including words per turn, speech production rate, response duration, response latency, and self-referential language, were analysed to examine how conversational engagement is shaped by prompt personalisation, interaction phase, and participant characteristics. The findings highlight three key interactional properties of robot-delivered iCST. First, personalised prompts significantly increase response duration, self-referential language, and overall engagement compared to generic prompts. Second, conversational behaviour changes within sessions, with a reduction in the verbal output and autobiographical engagement observed during later interaction phases, which suggests cognitive fatigue. Third, first-session conversational metrics were associated with long-term participation, while living situation influenced conversational engagement patterns. These findings provide empirical insights into the factors that shape conversational engagement in robot-delivered iCST. They inform the design of adaptive conversational robots for dementia therapy.

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