Robots and AI Are Entering UK Home Care: What Assistive Technology Means for Independence at Home

Care robots and artificial intelligence are moving out of the laboratory and into ordinary homes, and new UK research suggests the shift could help more older people stay independent for longer. A study led by the University of Nottingham, working with Age UK Bristol, found that assistive technology placed in people’s own homes improved physical strength, balance and social confidence over a six-week trial. The findings are now being fed into a parliamentary discussion on how these tools should be regulated and rolled out, which makes this a good moment to look at what the technology can realistically do, and where a practical home adaptation still matters more.

What the new research found

The Nottingham study tested telepresence robots, simple devices that let a trained volunteer join an older person at home through a moving video screen, without the person needing any digital skills of their own. Over six weeks, participants were in contact two or three times a week. Volunteers from Age UK Bristol were trained not only to use the technology but to guide each person through a personalised exercise programme designed by a fitness instructor, combining company with gentle physical activity.

The results pointed to small but meaningful gains. Participants showed improvements in physical frailty and balance, felt more confident about taking part in social activities outside the home, and, along with the volunteers, built up their own digital skills as the weeks went on. Professor Praminda Caleb-Solly, who led the work, said the research showed that using technology in older people’s daily lives can genuinely make a positive difference, and that the next step was to work with government and other partners to put the findings into practice.

The researchers were careful to note that telepresence is only one corner of a much wider field. Assistive robotics also includes exoskeletons that support movement and devices that help people with limited hand function to eat independently. Getting any of it into everyday use, though, raises practical questions about cost, regulation and whether care staff and families actually trust it.

Why this matters for households now

The timing is not accidental. The UK’s population is ageing, experienced care staff are in short supply, and falls remain one of the biggest threats to independence at home. More than one in three people over 65 have a fall each year, and the fear of falling again often leads to less activity, weaker muscles and further isolation, a cycle that guided exercise and closer contact are meant to interrupt.

To help shape how these tools are adopted, the Nottingham team’s Future-Proofing Care project is feeding its evidence into a parliamentary round table, held with the think tank Policy Connect and titled Easing the Adoption of Intelligent Assistive Robotics. The discussion is expected to cover standards, procurement, skills, regulation and sustainability, in other words the groundwork needed before technology like this could be offered routinely through the NHS or social care. For families, that means care robots are unlikely to arrive on prescription overnight, but the direction of travel is clear.

What assistive technology can and cannot do at home

It helps to be clear-eyed about where these tools fit. Telepresence robots, smart speakers, sensors and AI monitoring are strong at connection and awareness. They can prompt someone to take medication, encourage a daily walk around the living room, flag when a person has not moved for a worrying length of time, and keep a relative or carer in the loop. For someone living alone, that reassurance is valuable.

What none of them do is move a person safely between floors. A robot can remind you to head upstairs to bed; it cannot help you climb the staircase to get there. For many older people, the single biggest barrier to staying in a much-loved home is not loneliness or forgetfulness but the stairs themselves. That is why physical adaptations, from grab rails and level-access showers to stairlifts and through-floor lifts, remain the foundation of independent living, with newer technology sitting alongside them rather than replacing them.

How home adaptations fit the picture

If the stairs are becoming difficult, the usual starting point is an assessment by an occupational therapist, who can look at the whole home and recommend what would help. An occupational therapy assessment is often the gateway to funding too, and for a major change such as a stairlift the main public route is the Disabled Facilities Grant, a means-tested council grant available across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. You can read how that funding works, and who qualifies, in our guide to stairlift grants.

It is also worth understanding costs before you commit, whether you go through the council or pay privately. Prices vary with the type of staircase and the model chosen, and our guide to stairlift prices sets out the typical UK ranges reported by industry sources so you can plan with realistic figures. Combining the right adaptation with the kind of monitoring and social technology now being trialled could give many households the best of both, a home that is physically safe to move around and better connected to help when it is needed.

The takeaway for families

Care robots and AI will not remove the need to think carefully about the practical basics of a home, but the latest research is a useful reminder that staying independent is increasingly a mix of the physical and the digital. If you are weighing up how to keep a home workable for the years ahead, it makes sense to sort the fundamentals first, an occupational therapy assessment, safe access between floors, and any grants you may qualify for, and then look at how newer technology could add reassurance on top. As the parliamentary conversation develops, we will keep tracking what it means for older people and their families at home.