Lay summary (by Claude 3 Sonnet): Older adults living in nursing homes often struggle with depression and loneliness. Researchers wanted to see if social robots (robots that can interact with people) could help reduce these feelings. They looked at studies where older nursing home residents interacted with social robots, either in groups or individually. After reviewing 8 studies, the researchers found that the social robot activities significantly decreased depression and loneliness in the older adults. Group robot activities seemed to work better for reducing depression than individual activities. Longer periods of interacting with the robots also led to greater improvements in depression. The researchers concluded that having older nursing home residents engage with physical social robots can provide social interaction and promote better mental well-being as part of their daily care routines.