From Algorithms to Empathy: Emotionally Intelligent AI Companions in Elder Mental Health Care - A scoping review

Background: The rising mental health crisis among older people, which is caused by loneliness, cognitive loss, and a lack of emotional support, needs new and caring solutions. This systematic literature review looks at how emotional intelligence (EI) can be added to AI- powered virtual companions and how they can help improve mental health outcomes in elder healthcare services. Objective: The study’s goal is to find out how emotionally intelligent technology can improve traditional eldercare by delivering consistent, caring, customized emotional support by looking at existing applications and conceptual frameworks. Methods: A peer-reviewed literature published between 2010 and 2025 in the Scopus, Web of Science, and PubMed databases. Studies that talked about emotional intelligence, virtual companions, mental health outcomes, or the design or implementation of eldercare services were included. A PRISMA-guided screening method chose 87 articles in all. The data was organized using the theme to identify common ideas and patterns in how virtual agents are used to help older people’s mental health. Results: The results show that there are five main themes: Emotional Responsiveness, Conceptual Frameworks, Psychological Outcomes, Usability and Acceptance, Ethical/System Integration, and Health System Integration. The results show that virtual companions with emotional intelligence may help older people feel less lonely, improve their mood, and make them more mentally strong. But the current collection of studies is not very complete; it has few real-world examples and no models that work across other cultures. Conclusion: This paper emphasizes the possibility of emotionally intelligent virtual companions as an aid in mental healthcare for the elderly. It underlines the critical demand for standardized conceptual frameworks, interdisciplinary research, and ethical principles to inform future breakthroughs and implementations. Emotionally intelligent AI technology could drastically transform aged care into a more responsive and person-centred service model in the digital era.