Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 3. Favorite G IRAFF 's domains of application
Application Domains. The participants are in favor of the use of robots to train the
family caregiver to small nursing tasks and to maintain constant contact with assisted
people. The possibility of continuous monitoring (see Figure 3) of the patient at home
is considered the most useful application (59% of participants were in favor of this kind
of application), with support application following at 23%, while the companionship
and communication functionalities are less envisaged, maybe also due to the specific
type of professional activities of participants.
More specifically, 45.5% of the health workers advocate the use of the robot to train
a family caregiver to perform small nursing tasks (e.g., treat a bedsore, administer an
enema, measuring of vital signs) and to maintain a constant contact with the patient and
his family (75% of participants). Finally 60% of participants also says that the robot
could alleviate the workload of the family caregiver, but not that of the health workers
themselves (50% of people admit to be uncertain about the real possibility of the robot
to diminish their daily workload).
Advantages and Disadvantages. Among the advantages, participants listed the ability
to monitor remotely via visual communication the physical state of health, as well as the
possibility to follow the management of medication and certain health practices (control
of vital parameters such as level of blood glucose for diabetic patients, supervision of
practices related to their care and medication as deep breathing exercises for patients
with COPD). One advantage often cited by the health workers is the possibility for the
operator to improve his/her night surveillance activity in hospital and home care cases.
Suggested Improvements. The focus group conducted at the end of this analysis, high-
lighted some aspects considered as particularly relevant for using the platform in the
healthcare domain for long-term period. These aspects specifically refer to improve-
ments and integration of additional functionalities. Specifically according to partici-
pants, there is a need to improve the video quality, especially in relation to night vision;
it would be useful to add the zoom functionality to the webcam; the duration and mode
of charging should be improved: e.g., it would be better that the robot could reach
autonomously the re-charging station; the safe navigation of the robot should be guar-
anteed (see Section 4 for a more detailed discussion). In addition it would be beneficial
to enable the call transfer if the client is not connected to the robot via the PC; finally
 
Search WWH ::




Custom Search