John Leland reports for the New York Times on robots designed to help meet the needs of nursing home residents. With a nursing shortage, nursing homes are often understaffed. Robots can help provide physical and emotional support, “virtual assisted living.”
The robots are designed to meet a whole range of needs and look like a miniature person, standing four feet tall. They have eyes and mouths, hands and legs. They also have an Ipad affixed to their chests.
One key role a robot plays in a nursing home is companionship. The pandemic has brought with it massive nursing shortages. Reports indicate that more than 400,000 people who had worked at long-term care facilities no longer do. Among other things, this mass worker exodus has left many nursing home residents feeling completely isolated.
What can robots do in addition to keeping people company? They can offer reminders to take medicines, call for help if someone needs it, teach yoga and tai chi. New technologies are enabling robots to tell jokes, sing songs, play games, and kill germs in a room using ultraviolet lights.
Technical glitches remain. As of now, they might fall while demonstrating a yoga or tai chi pose and might not be able to pick themselves up. Before too long, robots will be able to help people recall good memories, be it their wedding or the birth of a child.
What if robots are not your thing or otherwise not available to you? The number of low-cost devices that can monitor just about everything you do and help you in all kinds of ways is soaring.
Here’s more from Just Care:
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