A Feasibility Study of a Social Robot Collecting Patient Reported Outcome Measurements from Older Adults

A systematic review of collaborative robots for nurses: where are we now, and where is the evidence?

Introduction: Robots present an opportunity to enhance healthcare delivery. Rather than targeting complete automation and nurse replacement, collaborative robots, or "cobots", might be designed to allow nurses to focus on high-value caregiving. While many institutions are now investing in these platforms, there is little publicly available data on how cobots are being developed, implemented, and evaluated to determine if and how they support nursing practice in the real world. Methods: This systematic review investigates the current state of cobotic technologies designed to assist nurses in hospital settings, their intended applications, and impacts on nurses and patient care. A comprehensive database search identified 28 relevant peer-reviewed articles published since 2018 which involve real studies with robotic platforms in simulated or actual clinical contexts. Results: Few cobots were explicitly designed to reduce nursing workload through administrative or logistical assistance. Most included studies were designed as patient-centered rather than nurse-centered, but included assistance for tasks like medication delivery, vital monitoring, and social interaction. Most applications emerged from India, with limited evidence from the United States despite commercial availability of nurse-assistive cobots. Robots ranged from proof-of-concept to commercially deployed systems. Discussion: This review highlights the need for further published studies on cobotic development and evaluation. A larger body of evidence is needed to recognize current limitations and pragmatic opportunities to assist nurses and patients using state-of-the-art robotics. Human-centered design can assist in discovering the right opportunities for cobotic assistance. Committed research-practice partnerships and human-centered design are needed to guide the technical development of nurse-centered cobotic solutions.

Mobile, Socially Assistive Robots Incorporating Approach Behaviour: Requirements for Successful Dialogue with Dementia Patients in a Nursing Home

The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of using a mobile socially assistive robot (SAR) that incorporates approach behaviour (APB) for seniors. The participants were 15 residents in a nursing home. The effectiveness of dialogue with participants was compared for two types of SARs: stationary and mobile. Interactions were also examined to determine the factors that led to the success or failure of the dialogue based on the trajectory of the mobile SARs and observations of the participants’ behaviour with the mobile SARs. The results showed that nine of 15 participants (60 %) engaged in dialogue with mobile SARs, which was twice as effective as stationary SARs. Conversely, some participants could not engage in dialogue when using a mobile SAR. In addition, these participants’ The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores were low. These participants’ successful dialogues were influenced by the angle at which the mobile SAR approached the participant and the length of time the mobile SAR and the participant were face to face. In this study, it was shown that the introduction of mobile SARs in a nursing home could facilitate communication between SARs and residents and further contribute to the quality of life of residents.

Who is more likely to adopt and comply with the electronic patient-reported outcome measure (ePROM) mobile application? A real-world study with cancer patients undergoing active treatment

PURPOSE

This study aims to identify factors associated with the adoption and compliance of electronic patient-reported outcome measure (ePROM) use among cancer patients in a real-world setting.

METHODS

This prospective cohort study was conducted at the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, Korea, from September 2018 to January 2019. Cancer patients aged 18 years or older who owned smartphones and who were receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy were eligible for this study. Patients were asked to use the app to report their symptoms every 7 days for a total of 21 days (3 weeks). Logistic regression was performed to identify the factors associated with the adoption and compliance.

RESULTS

Among 580 patients, 417 (71.9%) adopted the ePROM app and 159 (27.4%) out of 417 had good compliance. Patients who had greater expectations regarding the ease of use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 2.67, 95% CI: 1.28-5.57) and usefulness (aOR 1.69, 95% CI: 1.05-2.72) of the ePROM app were more likely to adopt the app than those who did not. Patients who had greater satisfaction with usefulness (aOR 1.89, 95% CI 1.10-3.25) were more likely to comply with using the app, but satisfaction with ease of use was not related to the compliance.

CONCLUSION

While expectation regarding the ease of use and usefulness of the ePROM app was associated with the adoption of the app, satisfaction with ease of use was not related to compliance with the ePROM app. Satisfaction with usefulness was associated with the compliance of ePROM app use.

Impact of the introduction of a verbal socially assistive robot on the relationship between older people and their caregivers in a nursing home

This study was aimed at investigating the changes in relationship between older people and caregivers caused by the introduction of a verbal socially assistive robot (SAR) in a nursing home. Twenty-one older people residing on one floor of the nursing home and eight caregivers working at the nursing home participated in the study. A time study was conducted, and behaviours were observed before the introduction of the verbal SAR, on day 1 of the introduction, and on day 14 after the introduction. Pepper (Softbank Co. Ltd.) was used in this study. The conversation time between residents and caregivers increased after the introduction of the verbal SAR. At the time of introduction of the verbal SAR, caregivers were providing personalized care to residents during group gymnastics activities (e.g., talking to them and providing movement instructions). The results of the study indicate that the introduction of the verbal SAR improved the relationship between the residents and caregivers and contributed in improving the delivered quality of care.

Quality of Care Perceived by Older Patients and Caregivers in Integrated Care Pathways With Interviewing Assistance From a Social Robot: Noninferiority Randomized Controlled Trial

Background

Society is facing a global shortage of 17 million health care workers, along with increasing health care demands from a growing number of older adults. Social robots are being considered as solutions to part of this problem.

Objective

Our objective is to evaluate the quality of care perceived by patients and caregivers for an integrated care pathway in an outpatient clinic using a social robot for patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) interviews versus the currently used professional interviews.

Methods

A multicenter, two-parallel-group, nonblinded, randomized controlled trial was used to test for noninferiority of the quality of care delivered through robot-assisted care. The randomization was performed using a computer-generated table. The setting consisted of two outpatient clinics, and the study took place from July to December 2019. Of 419 patients who visited the participating outpatient clinics, 110 older patients met the criteria for recruitment. Inclusion criteria were the ability to speak and read Dutch and being assisted by a participating health care professional. Exclusion criteria were serious hearing or vision problems, serious cognitive problems, and paranoia or similar psychiatric problems. The intervention consisted of a social robot conducting a 36-item PROM. As the main outcome measure, the customized Consumer Quality Index (CQI) was used, as reported by patients and caregivers for the outpatient pathway of care.

Results

In total, 75 intermediately frail older patients were included in the study, randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups, and processed: 36 female (48%) and 39 male (52%); mean age 77.4 years (SD 7.3), range 60-91 years. There was no significant difference in the total patient CQI scores between the patients included in the robot-assisted care pathway (mean 9.27, SD 0.65, n=37) and those in the control group (mean 9.00, SD 0.70, n=38): P=.08, 95% CI –0.04 to 0.58. There was no significant difference in the total CQI scores between caregivers in the intervention group (mean 9.21, SD 0.76, n=30) and those in the control group (mean 9.09, SD 0.60, n=35): P=.47, 95% CI –0.21 to 0.46. No harm or unintended effects occurred.

Conclusions

Geriatric patients and their informal caregivers valued robot-assisted and nonrobot-assisted care pathways equally.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03857789; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03857789