Robot-Assisted Approach to Diabetes Care Consultations: Enhancing Patient Engagement and Identifying Therapeutic...

Area of Science:

• Medical Technology
• Robotics in Healthcare
• Diabetes Management

Background:

• Diabetes presents a growing global health challenge, exacerbated by a shortage of specialized care professionals.
• Robot-assisted care offers a scalable and cost-effective alternative to traditional diabetes education and management methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the feasibility of using robots for diabetes care consultations.
• To evaluate robots' ability to gather patient feedback and identify therapeutic issues.
• To determine the potential of robots as substitutes for human diabetes care specialists.

Main Methods:

• Development of a robot-assisted consultation program, including robot selection, content design, and communication tailoring.
• Robot operation by experienced diabetes care nurses during patient consultations.
• Collection of patient feedback via a 17-item questionnaire and assessment of therapeutic reflection using a 5-item questionnaire.

Main Results:

• 32 participants (mean age 69.7 years, mean HbA1c 7.2%) completed the study with no reported discomfort.
• High patient satisfaction reported, with most feedback and therapeutic reflection items scoring above the median.
• Robot consultations successfully differentiated patients with treatment compliance issues from those managing their condition effectively, eliciting valuable patient narratives.

Conclusions:

• Robot-assisted diabetes care is a feasible approach to support human healthcare professionals.
• The program demonstrates potential for scalability and utility in various healthcare settings.
• Future research should investigate the application of this technology with healthcare professionals having limited diabetes care experience.