Should Robots Be Personal Assistants?

Background:Assistance dogs support humans with different physical disabilities: 1. Service dogs for people with diverse mobility impairments 2. signaling dogs for humans diagnosed with diabetes, hearing impairments, seizure, or posttraumatic stress disorder 3. guide dogs for people with visual impairments. Definitions and terms are not consistent over Europe; Austrian terminology is used in the following. These specially trained dogs support people in their everyday lives and make it possible that less help is required from personal assistants or caregivers. Diverse studies show this positive impact of assistance dogs on the quality of life of disabled people. There are just a few case reports from United States about service dogs for people diagnosed with any inflammatory rheumatic disorder. Dogs are trained individually for about 1.5 years before team training and the concluding team assessment through Austrian authorities take place. Since 2015, there has been an adapted legislation for service dogs in Austria which brings significant improvements in many areas. In comparison to the model set by Austria, there is no corresponding legal basis at EU level or in other European countries.Objectives:Case-report about my own situation diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in 2001 and my service dog May. May supports my every day live in private and business affairs since 2019Methods:May was trained for less than two years before team assessment. May is able to pick up things I dropped. These include coins, my key, my mobile phone, clothes, towels and lots of other things I want her to pick it up for me. May opens and closes doors, empties the washing machine, pulls the laundry basket and even helps me put on and take off clothes. In general, she carries many things which I instruct her to carry. I am able to learn her more new things in a short time. Furthermore May acts safe on public transport and even airplanes. Due to special training May is allowed to move without dog leash or muzzle. A muzzle or leash would handicap the dog’s work. As a result of May’s help I need less personal assistance.Results:May’s physical and psychological support gives me greater independence and increases my self-confidence. She was trained to specifically meet the needs of my disability. Beside her skills, May helps to reduce pain and burden of arthritis.Conclusion:My aim is to spotlight the great support of service dogs to severely affected arthritis patients. Austria had realized legislation for assistance dogs to guarantee certain permissions the owner’s needs (e.g. access to working place, hospital). I would love to raise awareness about assistance dogs to improve the knowledge about those animals to implement European legislation.References:[1]Arbeitskreis für Hygiene in Gesundheitseinrichtungen des Magistrats der Stadt Wien, MA 15, Richtlinie für den Umgang mit Assistenzhunden und Therapiehunden in Gesundheitseinrichtungen, 29.3.2017; access 1.10.2019[2]AK Krankenhaushygiene OÖ, Umgang mit Assistenzhunden in Gesundheitseinrichtungen, Version 1; access 1.2019[3]Bremhorst, A et al, Spotlight on Assistance Dogs- Legislation, Welfare and Research, Animals 2018, 8, 129; doi:10.3390/ani8080129[4]Deutsche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaushygiene (DGKH), Empfehlungen zum hygienegerechten Umgang mit Therapiehunden in Krankenhäusern und vergleichbaren Einrichtungen, Hyg Med 2017; 42-10[5]Glenk, LM et al, Perceptions on Helath Benefits of Guide Dog Ownership in an Austrian Population of Blind People with and without a Guide Dog, Animals 2019, 9, 428; doi:10.3390/ani9070428[6]Lundqvist, M et al, Certified service dogs- A cost- effectiveness analysis appraisal, Plos ones 12.9.2019, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0219911[7]Sozialministeriumservice, Richtlinie Therapiehunde des Bundesministers für Arbeit, Soziales und Konsumentenschutz, 01.01.2015; access 1.10.2019Acknowledgments:I am very grateful to Kati Kohoutek, May’s trainer and the efforts of Austrian’s long lasting dog trainers and Karl Weissenbacher, the leader of Messerli Institute/ department of Veterinary University Vienna.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

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Robots for Elderly Care in the Home: A Landscape Analysis and Co-Design Toolkit

International Journal of Social Robotics ◽

10.1007/s12369-021-00816-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Gianluca Bardaro ◽

Alessio Antonini ◽

Enrico Motta

Keyword(s):

Large Scale ◽

Daily Life ◽

Elderly Care ◽

Real Life ◽

Robotic Platform ◽

Holistic View ◽

Personal Assistants ◽

Healthcare Interventions ◽

The Impact ◽

The Eu

AbstractOver the last two decades, several deployments of robots for in-house assistance of older adults have been trialled. However, these solutions are mostly prototypes and remain unused in real-life scenarios. In this work, we review the historical and current landscape of the field, to try and understand why robots have yet to succeed as personal assistants in daily life. Our analysis focuses on two complementary aspects: the capabilities of the physical platform and the logic of the deployment. The former analysis shows regularities in hardware configurations and functionalities, leading to the definition of a set of six application-level capabilities (exploration, identification, remote control, communication, manipulation, and digital situatedness). The latter focuses on the impact of robots on the daily life of users and categorises the deployment of robots for healthcare interventions using three types of services: support, mitigation, and response. Our investigation reveals that the value of healthcare interventions is limited by a stagnation of functionalities and a disconnection between the robotic platform and the design of the intervention. To address this issue, we propose a novel co-design toolkit, which uses an ecological framework for robot interventions in the healthcare domain. Our approach connects robot capabilities with known geriatric factors, to create a holistic view encompassing both the physical platform and the logic of the deployment. As a case study-based validation, we discuss the use of the toolkit in the pre-design of the robotic platform for an pilot intervention, part of the EU large-scale pilot of the EU H2020 GATEKEEPER project.

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Smart Home Personal Assistants

ACM Computing Surveys ◽

10.1145/3412383 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 53 (6) ◽

pp. 1-36

Author(s):

Jide S. Edu ◽

Jose M. Such ◽

Guillermo Suarez-Tangil

Keyword(s):

Smart Home ◽

Personal Assistants

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Are local offices of emergency management prepared for people with disabilities? Results from the FEMA Region 9 Survey

Journal of Emergency Management ◽

10.5055/jem.0506 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

pp. 7-20

Author(s):

Robyn R. Gershon, MHS, DrPH ◽

Michelle A. Muska, EMT, MPH ◽

Qi Zhi, MPH ◽

Lewis E. Kraus, MPH, MCP

Keyword(s):

Emergency Management ◽

Primary Outcome ◽

People With Disabilities ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Department Of Justice ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Sign Language Interpreters ◽

Personal Assistants ◽

Management Recommendations

Objective: To assess disaster planning of local Offices of Emergency Management (OEM) with respect to people with disabilities (PWD).Design: A cross-sectional study of local OEM from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 9 (N = 61) was conducted using an internet-based survey. The primary outcome was the adoption of emergency management recommendations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and FEMA in applying Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Results: OEM implementation of ADA requirements was generally suboptimal. While 63 percent reported that plans addressed the needs of PWD, only 41 percent reported detailed operating procedures for PWD. Training of staff to ensure that they were knowledgeable on the ADA requirements for inclusivity was rarely conducted. While accessible shelters and transportation were often identified, accessible communication strategies, including emergency notifications, were often lacking; only 28 percent of OEMs reported availability of sign language interpreters at shelters. Shelters often allowed service animal access (62 percent), but fewer allowed access to personal assistants (39 percent). Engagement of the disability community, from plan development to community drills, was uncommon. While more than half (59 percent) of OEM felt clear about their responsibilities in providing equal access to PWD, only 23 percent reported having qualified staff and other resources necessary in order to meet those responsibilities. Participants cited the need for more training on the ADA requirements in order to better meet the needs of PWD. Conclusion: Strategies for improvement to assure inclusiveness of PWD in all phases of emergency management are needed.

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