Personal Assistant Robots For Special Needs and Elderly Care

In this post, We will discuss personal assistant robots for special needs and elderly care.
I will talk about what is already available and what is the future approach regarding assistant robots integration in the medical field.

Technology and advancement have always strived to stay one step ahead of us in every aspect. Whether taking it medically, or industrially, technology has been taking over every field quite noticeably.

The sole purpose of all of this is to somehow make the human lifestyles better and to work on every growing need of humanity.

Also, you have to check out my post on the 12 Gift Ideas For Special Needs & Disabled Teenager.

One similar need has arisen in recent decades in the healthcare department. Well, focusing on it, a solution for the elderly care has become a major demand recently, and hence some solutions are there but the others need to be worked upon.

Personal Assistant Robots For Special Needs and Elderly Care

The ever-growing population of the older age people around the world, especially in the developed nations, will soon require a better elder care service side by side.

It is a sector that has been looked upon closely as the mental and physical health and lifestyle of the elderly people might get affected if it gets ignored.

Also, spending large sums of money on health and elder care is not possible for the older age community. Hence, an easy-going and less-expensive solution must be found out.

Fortunately, the technological advancements are certain to come up with the robotic answers to these queries.

Evolution of personal assistant robots for special needs and elderly

With every need, the world has strived to present a solution. That striving has been the most important aspect of the growth of technology.

The developed nations of today, have a higher elderly rate and hence, the need for the care-taking service arises.

The loved ones are there for them indeed but they are unable to fully focus on them. Many health and elderly care institutions were developed to overcome such needs but with the growing need, more health-care professionals were required to perform the tasks of the elderly care unit.

Unfortunately, the requirement could not be met and thus some solutions were formulated. These solutions consisted of some devices that could help perform daily tasks more conveniently.

These included wheeled walkers, smart speakers and other devices that promoted assistive technology. But there was still a gap that could not be filled directly. That was when robots became a part o problem-solving turn for this purpose.

That was the evolutionary point for using robots as a source to fill those spaces and help the aging community build a better relationship with the technological world of today.

Special Needs and Elder Care Robots in Today’s World:

Empowering the adults and the aging community, the communication and information technology have been working on methodologies to get some satisfying results. Robots, as we know, are a significant part of those methodologies.

The general perception of robots as portrayed in most fictional movies is a human-like machine when in general, this is not at all true.

Mostly, they are specialized systems that help perform mechanical everyday tasks easily.
One such example is the vacuuming robots which make the task less difficult for the elderly.

One thing to consider is the availability of the robots around the clock. It means that unlike human caretakers, robots can work all day and all night as their capacity to work is far greater than us humans.

Also, if the household chores of mopping, cleaning, and vacuuming get done by the robotic force, family interaction will increase.

Concluding into more family time and socializing. Another psychological merit of asking a robot for help is the restoration of lost autonomy in the seniors.

I have a related article that I wrote on the best smart speakers for the elderly that you might want to check out.

Types Of Robots Working Successfully Today:

There are many categories of robots present today which include mobile manipulative mechanisms, assistive walking devices, tele robots, home health-care robots, etc.

1. Assistive Walking Devices:

The primary goal is to help the elderly access a stable and supportive walking for them. Moreover, via these assistive walking devices, one can perform the walking, sitting, standing, and balancing tasks independently. To add to the list, it can verily help monitor the fall incidents to the medical professionals.

2. Tele robots:

The sole purpose of tele robots is to make the communication passage among medical professionals, family members, and the elderly, better. They have voice-controlled systems to help in communicative purposes. These can monitor injuries as well.

3. Home Health-care Robots:

Concerning the home health-care, these are designed to assist and monitor the elderly at their houses. They contain the ability to provide physical care, nursing, medical services that include speech treatment, and much more. They can help improve the autonomy of older adults and to help them in their well-being.

4. Mobile Manipulative Mechanisms:

These are mobile manipulator robots and work quite nice for the older and disabled to satisfy their needs.

5. Humanoid Robots:

These can be considered as gentle caretakers of your needs and medications. These sorts of robots primarily serve as reminders to your medicine time and the basic everyday tasks for the older adults which are oblivious and forgetful of them. Moreover, it can detect issues and inform the managing individual about it. These are a mixture of Artificial Intelligence and smart robots.

The Futuristic Approach:

The robots of today are designed to serve basic tasks and provide little assistance, but it is expected that they will be doing better than that in the coming years.

The interactive level, ability to converse and communicate, friendly interface, and better functionality is expected to be seen.

We know that the AI(artificially intelligent) technology is developing constantly and the implantation of this technology in the future to come robots will be inevitable.

The following factors are expected to be witnessed in the coming years of advancement. Furthermore, technological advancements are expected to be showcased in a sense that will make the experience better for older age people.

• Conversation:

The ability to converse is quite little in the present. Hence, in later years, robots will serve as communicating partners with complete conversational tone and voice controlling factors.

• Companionship:

The machine-like systems of the robot will be converted to serve a more human-like performance and be the companion of the elderly people.

• Emotional Support:

The elderly people often get depressed being lonely most of the time. Hence, the later systems will contain the ability to provide emotional and moral support and to uplift their spirits.

How To Make The Experience Better?

Well, to eliminate the gap between technological advancements, the inventors should aim for an approach that will be able to fill the void. The devices and robots should be more simple and open to create a level of understanding between the user and the robot.

• User-Friendly:

To help the older age create a bond with the robot, the inventors and designers should make it more user-friendly for an optimistic approach and better feedback. 

• Interactive:

The must somehow be interactive enough to give a comfy passage to the need of the old age people. The lesser the interaction, the more irritated they will feel. Interactive designs will help achieve the goals in a better way.

The Motives Of Personal Assistant Robots for Special Needs and Elderly Care:

Along the lines of the many motives that robotic assistance is fulfilling, many other factors are being taken care of by the inventors and developers. The health ane elderly care is the foremost motive of it, but some other significant motives are also met.

1. Independence:

By allowing them to perform their tasks by themselves with little assistance, the older age people are sure to feel independent. The fact that there are no complaining factors in a robotic machine helps them build their self-esteem, hence, they will be mentally fit along with physical well-being.

2. Empowering People With Special Needs:

The people with disabilities and special needs demand constant support and monitoring which often gets hectic for human beings. Hence, to make the world a better place for them, robots will serve to them with no complaints or tiredness which is sure to empower them.

3. Dignify the Elder People:

Asking a machine to do a basic task is quite different than asking a human to do the same. To preserve the dignity of the older age people, robots are perfect companions to serve the cause.

Conclusion

Artificial Intelligence and Information and Communication Technology have by far been extremely successful in creating innovative solutions for us and bringing all the ease in our lives. Indeed it has been intermixed in our lifestyles. The older age people like to stay at home and forcing them to leave that and go living in a health-care institution is surely unfair. Hence, there have been scientific and technological developments in this respect. Witnessing all of that, it is expected that the aspect of elderly care via these advancements will certainly grow to a deeper level in the coming years and with the development and implantation of AI we will see more human-like robots that will be a great help for humanity at general and for special needs and elderly care in particular.

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