Pro-active positioning of a social robot intervening upon behavioral disturbances of persons with dementia in a smart nursing home

Socially assistive walker for daily living assistance in older adults

Introduction

This paper addresses the growing healthcare needs of an ageing population and the lack of advanced technologies with social capabilities that are cost effective, user friendly, and readily adopted. In response to this motivation, a socially assistive walker is designed to provide physical and cognitive support in activities of daily living for older adults.

Methods

Physical and cognitive support is provided by walker's structure, sensors, and feedback interfaces to assist users daily living activities, as well as, in navigating environment safely and efficiently. The walker's design arises from semi-structured interviews conducted with ageing experts, leading to the development of two levels or modes of social interaction, namely low and high interaction.

Results and discussion

In a cohort of 14 adults, the study found the device easy to use regardless of the interaction mode, with 78.5% expressing a preference for the version featuring embodiment, verbal feedback, and more proactive cues (p < 0.05). The results also prompted ideas and suggestions for new designs based on insights gleaned from the user. This research contributes to the field of socially assistive robotics by offering an example of a user centred approach to address the healthcare challenges an ageing population poses.

Predicted Influences of Artificial Intelligence on the Domains of Nursing: Scoping Review

BACKGROUND

Artificial intelligence (AI) is set to transform the health system, yet little research to date has explored its influence on nurses-the largest group of health professionals. Furthermore, there has been little discussion on how AI will influence the experience of person-centered compassionate care for patients, families, and caregivers.

OBJECTIVE

This review aims to summarize the extant literature on the emerging trends in health technologies powered by AI and their implications on the following domains of nursing: administration, clinical practice, policy, and research. This review summarizes the findings from 3 research questions, examining how these emerging trends might influence the roles and functions of nurses and compassionate nursing care over the next 10 years and beyond.

METHODS

Using an established scoping review methodology, MEDLINE, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central, Education Resources Information Center, Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest databases were searched. In addition to the electronic database searches, a targeted website search was performed to access relevant gray literature. Abstracts and full-text studies were independently screened by 2 reviewers using prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Included articles focused on nursing and digital health technologies that incorporate AI. Data were charted using structured forms and narratively summarized.

RESULTS

A total of 131 articles were retrieved from the scoping review for the 3 research questions that were the focus of this manuscript (118 from database sources and 13 from targeted websites). Emerging AI technologies discussed in the review included predictive analytics, smart homes, virtual health care assistants, and robots. The results indicated that AI has already begun to influence nursing roles, workflows, and the nurse-patient relationship. In general, robots are not viewed as replacements for nurses. There is a consensus that health technologies powered by AI may have the potential to enhance nursing practice. Consequently, nurses must proactively define how person-centered compassionate care will be preserved in the age of AI.

CONCLUSIONS

Nurses have a shared responsibility to influence decisions related to the integration of AI into the health system and to ensure that this change is introduced in a way that is ethical and aligns with core nursing values such as compassionate care. Furthermore, nurses must advocate for patient and nursing involvement in all aspects of the design, implementation, and evaluation of these technologies.

INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID)

RR2-10.2196/17490.

Smart Environments and Social Robots for Age-Friendly Integrated Care Services

The world is facing major societal challenges because of an aging population that is putting increasing pressure on the sustainability of care. While demand for care and social services is steadily increasing, the supply is constrained by the decreasing workforce. The development of smart, physical, social and age-friendly environments is identified by World Health Organization (WHO) as a key intervention point for enabling older adults, enabling them to remain as much possible in their residences, delay institutionalization, and ultimately, improve quality of life. In this study, we survey smart environments, machine learning and robot assistive technologies that can offer support for the independent living of older adults and provide age-friendly care services. We describe two examples of integrated care services that are using assistive technologies in innovative ways to assess and deliver of timely interventions for polypharmacy management and for social and cognitive activity support in older adults. We describe the architectural views of these services, focusing on details about technology usage, end-user interaction flows and data models that are developed or enhanced to achieve the envisioned objective of healthier, safer, more independent and socially connected older people.