Jerry the Bear: A Robotic Platform for At-Home Therapy and Education for Children with Type 1 Diabetes

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this SBIR Phase I application from Sproutel is to develop a curriculum for providing expert educational content on diabetes self-management to be delivered via principles of game-based learning in an appealing teddy bear robotic character designed for young children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes (T1D) affects approximately 1 in 500 children and each year over 12,000 children under the age of 10 are diagnosed with this disease. Early intervention that improves self-management, raises self-confidence, and reduces personal and family stress has both short and long-term positive effects on disease management and health outcomes. However, access to existing intervention is limited the cost and availability of skilled healthcare professionals. Jerry the Bear(tm) is an interactive plush robot that provides educational content on diabetes care in an engaging format. Game-based learning has been demonstrated to be highly effective at improving healthcare outcomes, and recent research has shown that children perceive robots they engage with as companions, capable of providing motivation and emotional support. By embedding game-based education within Jerry the Bear, our goal is to teach diabetes self-management procedures and to build confidence and reduce stress in children aged 3-7, using an accessible, low- cost, at-home platform. To date we have fabricated 300 early prototype bears and delivered them to more than 350 children with T1D in 100 families and 8 diabetes camps. These prototype bears have proved our concept, but contain only an abbreviated curriculum of two storybook modules. The expected outcomes of this application will include the completed curriculum for Jerry the Bear, the addition of activity logging software for measuring engagement, and completing a pilot use study to gauge children's reactions to Jerry the Bear. With these outcomes, we will be positioned well to apply for Phase II funding for a pilot clinical trial to test hypotheses that Jerry the Bear improves children's understanding of diabetes, improves their self-confidence, and reduces their disease-related stress and family conflict around the disease. Building upon established principles of diabetes education while addressing the limitations of cost, accessibility, and motivation, the significance of our approach is to creae an engaging, accessible product for young children with T1D, and the potential benefits of the technologies developed within this project for children with other chronic illnesses. The application is highly innovative in its approach to commercialize a platform device that incorporates principles of game- based learning, socially assistive robotics, activity logging, home-based therapy, at a very cost- effective price point.