Overview

• The Cambridge-led trial enrolled informal caregivers, from parents of children with disabilities to older adults caring for partners with dementia, for twice-weekly chats with Pepper over five weeks.
• Participants reported improved mood, reduced loneliness and stress, and increasing comfort engaging with the robot as the program progressed.
• Conversations focused on everyday topics and self-disclosure, with Pepper acting as a consistent, non-judgmental listener rather than diagnosing or advising.
• Caregivers described greater acceptance of their role and strengthened emotion regulation following the intervention.
• Findings were published in the International Journal of Social Robotics (2025; DOI 10.1007/s12369-024-01207-0), with authors describing the work as a first-of-its-kind result that merits further study.