In June, host Karen Brown with Denver’s Aging 2.0 organization hosted a webinar on using robotics for residents in nursing homes. Several speakers included Medical Dr. Anshia Khan and Philosophy Dr. Alexis Elder with the University of Minnesota and registered nurse Kim Class with the State of Minnesota. Robots can provide these services in nursing homes: 1) escort residents within the nursing home, 2) alert staff of resident falls, 3) assist staff to lift or transfer residents, 4) lead an exercise class, 5) provide virtual visits with family or friends, 6) decrease loneliness by reading, playing games, or singing to a resident, 7) remind residents to take their medications, & 8) provide virtual visits with physicians and more.
Robots for Caregivers
Dr. Kahn discussed the two-year project in developing robots for use with dementia patients and other patients. She assembled a team of experts in varying fields for the project using existing robotic technology with special software.
Dr. Elder explained her part in reviewing the ethical concerns, balance of values versus risks of using robots, the robot care tasks, patient emotions, wellbeing, and relationships, the hazards of less human contact, and possible bias in technical design.
Nurse Class indicated the quality and shortages of nurses in nursing homes, which prompted the idea of using robots. Minnesota has a Performance Incentive Pay Program for their nursing homes, which provide grants up to $225K for meeting the minimum standard set by the state. The robot technology project helps to ensure the quality of nursing care for the residents per a recent survey.
All registered nursing home in Minnesota receive a report card for long or short term nursing facilities. If the nursing homes have a good report, they receive the additional grants. The robots cost from $15K for the smaller robots to $38K for the larger robots with the special software and annual maintenance program. Hopefully, the price will come down for home use.