Nursing care for elderly patients can be difficult, and expensive, especially in an economy that’s seeing a rapid growth of aging baby boomers and a decline in health care workers. To solve that problem, the Japanese are working to build the bridge between nursing care and the robotics industry, by funding nursing robots programmed to help in elder care.
Just call me Nurse Roboto
The Japanese are instituting a plan to fund such “nursing robots” as a means of providing health care clinics with affordable, low cost assistants for the elderly, while also boosting the country’s robotics industry. Is it the future of high tech senior care? With fewer young people able to help their elderly relatives, will more medical care centers for senior citizens turn to humanoid helper robots to assist with nursing homes? The plan comes at a time when the Japanese need it most, as they’re experience a shortage of health care workers that is creating an emergency situation in elderly assisted-living homes. Currently, 22% of Japan’s population is aged 65 or older. In 2010, millions of senior citizens were unable to receive proper care, due to a shortage of young nursing care helpers or family members willing to take in their aging grandparents. Japanese nursing care provider Yasuko Amahisa explains, “There will simply be too many elderly to care for as the nation faces a dramatic declining birth rate, an ageing population, and loosening of family ties.”What will robot nurses do?
There are currently four models of robotic nurses in production, capable of performing specialized tasks.- A robotic suit (think Iron Man) that a nurse can wear to assist in lifting or moving elderly patients who are not mobile.
- An ambulatory robot that can serve as a “walker,” helping elderly patients walk up ramps.
- A self-cleaning “toilet robot” that can be placed in any living space, making it easier for senior citizens who are unable to walk to the bathroom.
- A tracking device robot for patients of Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia, capable of monitoring patients who tend to wander off and get lost.