None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
The purpose of the research is to explore the perceptions of health care professionals posing as patients to the provision of a simple patient care activity by a specially programmed humanoid Robot. The sentinel questions to be addressed are: Will study participants accept a humanoid Robot in a care provider role? Is it possible for study participant to place trust on such a humanoid? Can a machine effect care with empathy by displaying appropriate emotions? What concerns arise among the study participants? Study participants are Doctors, Nurses, allied health professionals who provide direct clinical care. They will 'pose' as a patient before the humanoid robot and assess some components of the core clinical skills of the robot namely sense of safety, efficacy of care, empathy, communication skills, supportiveness, trust level and acceptance. Their responses on a standardised scale will be analysed and published. This study could pave the way to explore the utility of robots as real health care providers by systematically understanding the perceptions of health professionals as a first step.
Interventions
The research team will recruit a minimum of 30 participants who will be adults, gender non-specific, working as health care providers (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacist and others directly involved providing patient care) within the NWRH. There is no upper limit with regards to age of the participants.
Volunteer health workers and persons who do not provide direct patient care activities such as kitchen staff, cleaners and secretaries, will be excluded from participating.
The design
The research team will recruit a minimum of 30 participants who will be adults, gender non-specific, working as health care providers (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacist and others directly involved providing patient care) within the NWRH. There is no upper limit with regards to age of the participants. Volunteer health workers and persons who do not provide direct patient care activities such as kitchen staff, cleaners and secretaries, will be excluded from participating. The design of the 3-day study is prospective and observational and participants will: Act as patients and interact with a Robot named NAO, a commercially available robot built by Aldebaran Robotics (58cm tall, weighing 4.3Kg). Participant information will be provided to the study participants prior to their encounter with NAO and an informed consent will be obtained. They will evaluate the Robot’s ability to interact as a clinical care provider, performing a simple breathing exercise as guided by the Robot using voice prompts and gestures. Participants will then fill out a questionnaire at the end of their encounter with the Robot. The above (both the interaction with NAO plus the completion of questionnnaire) is expected to take each participant approximately 15 minutes. Participant answers will be analysed by the research team. NAO will not have any direct physical contact with the study participants and at times a robot engineer and a health professional involved in the study will be present with NAO.
Sponsors
Dr. Balaji Bikshandi
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Adults, gender non-specific, working as health care providers (doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacist and others directly involved providing patient care) within the NWRH, Burnie, Tasmania. There is no upper limit with regards to age of the participants.
Exclusion criteria
Volunteers who do not provide direct clinical care
Outcome results
None listed