None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
This study aims to investigate whether the seal companion robot, Paro, can improve psoriasis outcomes and decrease physiological and psychological stress after exposure to an experimental stress task in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis. It is hypothesised that those psoriasis patients provided with a Paro robot will have better psoriasis outcomes (as measured by TEWL and Raman micro-spectroscopy) and lower psychological and physiological stress levels than control participants who are not given the Paro robot .
Interventions
Intervention: Interaction with the companion robot, Paro
Participants will be exposed to a laboratory stress task (the Trier Social Stress Task) to induce psychological stress. stress. In this speech task, participants will be instructed by the researcher that they are going to be giving a 5 minute speech to convince the experimenter to give them their dream job. They will be told that their speech will be recorded and that their performance on the task will be evaluated in terms of fluency and
Intervention: Interaction with the companion robot, Paro Participants will be exposed to a laboratory stress task (the Trier Social Stress Task) to induce psychological stress. stress. In this speech task, participants will be instructed by the researcher that they are going to be giving a 5 minute speech to convince the experimenter to give them their dream job. They will be told that their speech will be recorded and that their performance on the task will be evaluated in terms of fluency and the winner will receive a $100 voucher. They will have 3 minutes to prepare their speech, and then 5 minutes to present their speech to the researcher and video-camera. After this, participants will be randomised to either received the seal companion robot, Paro, as a form of environmental enrichment or to a control group. The Paro seal robot is a therapeutic robot designed to provide a safer alternative to animal-assisted therapy. Paro uses sensors to respond to human contact in a socially supportive and comforting way and has a soft fur coat to provide tactile comfort. Participants will be asked to interact with Paro during a 30 minute recovery period. They will be left alone with the Paro robot, during this time. The intervention will only be delivered to the participants in a one-off, 90 minute session. This procedure will occur in a research clinic at the University of Auckland
Sponsors
The University of Auckland
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
16 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Have chronic plaque psoriasis Over 16 years of age Can read and write in English fluently Can provide written informed consent
Exclusion criteria
Have another significant dermatological condition People on any current systemic (oral) therapy for psoriasis including cyclosporin, methotrexate, acitretin, biologic agents or phototherapy. If they have recently stopped systemic treatments for psoriasis, they must be off all systemic treatments for at least 3 months People on any other immunosuppressive medication, such as systemic corticosteroids People who have recently changed depression or anxiety medications
Outcome results
None listed