Supporting veterans with substance abuse: A user-centered design approach for social robots

Bayles, Megan A.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/122113 Copy

Description

Title

Supporting veterans with substance abuse: A user-centered design approach for social robots

Author(s)

Bayles, Megan A.

Issue Date

2023-12-01

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Rogers, Wendy A

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Rogers, Wendy A

Committee Member(s)

• Alston, Reginald
• Rice, Laura
• Gobin, Robyn

Department of Study

Kinesiology & Community Health

Discipline

Community Health

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

Veterans, Substance Abuse, Human Factors, Robots

Abstract

Veterans as a community are exposed to health inequalities disproportionate to civilians. When we just focus on veterans and substance abuse, the prevalence of substance abuse has been an organizational and community health focus over the last several years. 11% of veterans within the past year have identified as having substance abuse. This number does not even begin to include the number of veterans who are suffering from the disease on their own due to fear of repercussions. Veterans also suffer from unique situations where they have a higher vulnerability to being exposed to physically, mentally, and morally traumatic events. These events can leave soldiers with several injuries that are brought back home. Further, reintegration challenges can enhance the stressors soldiers face when coming home which can include failure to form relationships, find work, and assimilate to civilian society. Veterans can’t and won’t find support due to several barriers. These reasons span different levels of concern form a social-ecological framework to include intrinsic, extrinsic, and organizational level issues. This purpose of this research aims to advance understanding of veterans’ alcohol misuse stories, assess approaches to methods for community health assessments, and discover the potential for socially assistive robot technology to support the barriers and supplement the facilitators to what has helped veterans recover in the past. To do this, we conducted a two-study approach which included a needs assessment with veterans who have substance misuse and a participatory design study with stakeholders. The goals of the needs assessment were to gain a holistic understanding of their experience in the military, what contributed to their alcohol misuse, what were the barriers to managing alcohol consumption, and what supported management of alcohol consumption. At the end of the needs assessment, we engaged the veterans in technology requirements interview wherein we discussed what a technology would need to have to support a veteran trying to manage their drinking. The second study engaged stakeholders in a participatory design session where they 1) designed a robot for veterans to support drink management and 2) assessed the need of the veterans’ suggestions from their professional and personal experiences. This dissertation research was conducted at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. To avoid limitations to outreach and potential participants, participation was established to be conducted over the Zoom video conferencing platform. The insights from the needs assessment yielded in-depth information about a veteran’s experience with alcohol misuse. We gained insight on why participants began to misuse alcohol (military culture, wartime experience), what the barriers were to seeking support (fear of repercussions, stigma, loss of benefits, warrior culture), and what supported them to manage their drinking (formal support organizations, hobbies, family, friends). Further, we were also able to learn that this participant sample was open to socially assistive robots for this type of support; we also noted technology features and capabilities that would enhance the usefulness of this type of intervention. The second study, engaging stakeholders in a participatory design session, we learned that they were also open to socially assistive robots for this type of support for veterans. From both studies we were able to deduce a list of initial design recommendations from robot appearance to robot capabilities and features needed to be successful. These robot elements were both convergent and divergent with the literature and between the two studies. The results of this research indicate that there is potential for socially assistive robots to support veterans with alcohol misuse. Through the study we were also able to identify several future directions for a deeper understanding of the complexities of veterans and alcohol misuse, methodological approaches to community health needs assessments, and initial design suggestions for socially assistive robots in this context.

Graduation Semester

2023-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2023 Megan Bayles

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