FW-HTF-P: Robotic Health Assistants: A New Human-Machine Partnership in Home Healthcare

该项目旨在开发一种基于机器人健康助理的智能家庭医疗保健系统，以提高家庭医疗保健提供者的生产力和效率。其目标是使家庭医疗保健提供者能够提高工作效率和工作生活质量。该项目解决了国家日益增长的为居家老年人提供医疗保健的需求。它还旨在提高我们对拟人机器的设计，开发和使用的理解。该项目将通过引入机器人健康助理（RoHA）的概念来扩展远程医疗的研究前沿，该概念有可能改变家庭医疗服务的工作并降低护理成本。这项研究有望加深我们对人工智能对医疗服务提供商影响的理解，并为医疗行业的技术转型做好新一代提供商的准备。拟议的系统有可能改善农村地区服务不足的老年人的生活质量。该项目将影响俄克拉荷马州州立大学和俄克拉荷马州大学健康科学中心的教育环境，特别是在机器人、人工智能、老年医学和老年学方面。此外，还将为整合机器人技术、人工智能和嵌入式系统的课程做出贡献，并提高学生对拟人机器的开发和使用的理解，特别是在老年人的背景下。首先，研究团队将与行业合作伙伴和利益相关者合作，开发基于机器人健康助理的智能家居医疗系统的研究概念。将与行业合作伙伴和利益攸关方开展焦点小组和Charrette研讨会等活动。这些项目将确定医疗保健提供者的需求，并了解病例管理人员如何通过机器人健康助理提供服务。第二，将进行初步研究。医疗保健专业人员将帮助对概念进行试点测试，并收集初步数据和用户反馈，以改进RoHA原型的设计。在行业合作伙伴和关键利益相关者的帮助下，识别和完善基于自然语言的、对老年人友好的机器人技能。这些技能将评估护理接受者的身心健康，并允许数据驱动，基于证据的家庭医疗保健。利益相关者的意见将为机器人健康助理如何增强当前的医疗服务提供见解。RoHA有可能促进与医疗保健提供者的在线虚拟访问或监测药物和治疗依从性。其目的是在健康问题发展为医疗紧急情况之前积极干预。该项目的最终目标是培养必要的研究人员、研究基础设施和基础工作，以扩大在FW-HTF完整研究提案水平上研究未来技术、未来工作人员和未来工作的机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project intends to develop a robotic health assistant-based smart home healthcare system to augment the productivity and efficiency of home healthcare providers. The goal is to empower home healthcare providers to improve productivity and quality of work life. The project addresses the nation's growing need to provide healthcare to home-bound older adults. It also aims to improve our understanding of the design, development and use of anthropomorphic machines. This project will expand the research frontier in telemedicine by introducing the concept of a robotic health assistant (RoHA), which has the potential to transform the work of home healthcare services and lower the cost of care. This research is expected to deepen our understanding of the impact of artificial intelligence on healthcare providers, and prepare a new generation of providers for a technological transformation in the healthcare industry. The proposed system has the potential to improve the quality of life of under-served older adults in rural areas. The project will impact the educational environment at Oklahoma State University and University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, especially in robotics, AI, geriatrics and gerontology. In addition, it will contribute curriculum integrating robotics, AI, and embedded systems and improve students' understanding of the development and use of anthropomorphic machines, especially in the context of older adults.The objectives planning project are two-fold. First, the research team will collaborate with industry partners and stakeholders to develop the research concept of a robotic health assistant-based smart home healthcare system. Activities such as focus groups and charrette workshops will be conducted with industry partners and stakeholders. These will identify the needs of healthcare providers and learn how case managers could deliver services via a robotic health assistant. Second, a preliminary study will be conducted. Healthcare professionals will help pilot-test the concept and collect preliminary data and user feedback to improve the design of the RoHA prototype. Natural language-based, older adult-friendly robot skills with be identified and refined with the help of industry partners and key stakeholders. These skill will evaluate the care recipient's physical and mental well being, and allow data-driven, evidence-based home healthcare. Stakeholder input will provide insights into how the robotic health assistant could enhance current healthcare services. The RoHA has the potential to facilitate online virtual visits with healthcare providers or monitor medication and therapy adherence. The intent would be to proactively intervene on health problems before they progress to a medical emergency. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop the necessary research personnel, research infrastructure, and foundational work to expand the opportunities for studying future technology, future workers, and future work at the level of a FW-HTF full research proposal.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.