Robot a new-age helping hand for elderly

Dr Bruce MacDonald having his blood pressure taken by a new robot designed to assist with the care of the elderly. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Residents at an Auckland retirement village are about to meet their newest carer.

But, there's a difference between "Charlie" and the other caregivers at Selwyn Retirement Village in Pt Chevalier - Charlie is a robot.

It is hoped that Charlie will soon have other robots to help him assist elderly residents by recording their blood pressure, reminding them to take medication and helping them get assistance if they fall.

Eventually, when the robotic technology has been developed further, it is hoped Charlie will be able to pick up heavy objects or people, lock the house and even tell caregivers where a resident is - something that is useful for dementia patients with a tendency to wander.

The prototype robot was created as part of a three-year joint project between the University of Auckland and Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, which received a $1.8 million grant from the Government.

Dr Bruce MacDonald, a senior lecturer at the university's electrical and computer engineering department said the idea to develop a robot for older people came out of a "societal need", with the country's ageing population growing quickly and the younger generation left to care for it decreasing.

"The number of older people is growing so rapidly that there won't be enough staff to look after them when they need help," he said. "One of the ways to alleviate that difficulty of staff shortages is to use robotic assistance."

Residents at the retirement village are expected to "meet" Charlie this week so Dr MacDonald and others working on the project can find out how they might be able to improve the technology used to run him.

The same residents and staff at the village were surveyed before Charlie was developed to find out what tasks healthcare robots could perform, and what they wanted a robot to look like.

Some staff were worried that robots could take away their jobs.

Dr McDonald emphasised that robots were intended to help alleviate a predicted shortage of care staff by taking on more menial tasks. Tasks such as personal care, providing medical advice, and assessing sadness were not identified in the study as useful for robots to carry out, and human carers would continue to meet these needs.

Charlie is worth about $20,000 but it is hoped that mass production of the robots would see that cost brought down to about $3000.

Multi-tasking Charlie

* Retirement village residents wanted assistance with detecting falls, calling for help, switching appliances on and off, cleaning, making phone calls to a doctor or nurse, lifting heavy things, monitoring the location of people and reminders to take medications.

*Staff wanted assistance with measuring heart rate and blood pressure and general reminders, such as telling patients when to take medication and locking the house at night.

*In terms of appearance, residents and staff preferred a middle-aged robot with a clear voice that was not too human-like. Some residents expressed a desire for no face.

*The most preferred design was a silver robot that was 1.25m tall, so it was not too imposing, with wheels and a screen on the body.