Evan Woldum
Papers
3
Total Citations
457
H-Index
3
About
Evan Woldum’s research lies at the intersection of dementia care, human-robot interaction, and patient-centered innovation. His work focuses on understanding how social robots—particularly PARO, a robotic pet seal—can provide emotional and social support for people with dementia in hospital settings. Woldum’s major contributions include identifying both the benefits and barriers to using PARO in care environments, as demonstrated in his highly cited scoping review (354 citations), which has become a foundational resource for researchers and practitioners integrating technology into dementia care. He also advanced person-centered methodologies by using video-ethnographic methods to capture the lived experiences and perceptions of people with dementia (89 citations), offering rare, direct insights from this population. Notably, Woldum champions participatory research, actively involving patients and families as partners in study design, data collection, and analysis—a collaborative approach that enriches the relevance and ethical grounding of his work. His research not only illuminates the therapeutic potential of social robots but also sets a standard for inclusive, real-world investigation in gerontechnology.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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- 3Involving patients and families in a social robot study14 citations · 2019