The importance of assistive and robotic health technologies (ATD) for persons in need of support has been increasing. Especially vulnerable patient groups facing chronic diseases benefit from ATD. A high usability of ATD is crucial for a successful implementation but is often insufficient. Therefore, the requirement for a needs-based technology development comprises the identification of user requirements and provision of recommendations and guidelines. Nevertheless, those are valid for

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... user groups and technologies only and transferability is restricted. Thus, the aim of this work is to identify universal requirement for ATD for vulnerable patients. Methodology: Results from four different studies evaluating various ATD with diverse vulnerable patient groups were included in this work. Two studies examined prototypes of ATD in a lab setting: a biofeedback system with persons with chronic back pain and an over-ground robot-supported gate trainer with both geriatric and younger neurologic patients. The other two studies examined commercially available ATD: different ATD for ALS patients and a health app for patients with lipid metabolism disorders. Different research designs such as semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used within the studies. Results: Several universal requirements areas of vulnerable patient groups could be identified. Those comprise target group adequacy, low usage effort, technical and safety related reliability, high level of stimulation and comfort, ease of use and ease of learning. Conclusion: This work has created awareness about the challenges of vulnerable patient groups using ATD and has identified their requirements for a smooth ATD usage. In conclusion, it is most important to involve vulnerable patients at every stage of ATD development. In this context, the main recommendations for future ATD development are to carefully consider target group needs and ATD usage context, to provide a quick system operation and functioning, as well as to offer an a [...]