The (Cost)Effectiveness of a Social Robot for Persons with Problems in Daily Structure and Planning in Disability Care

Summary

The goal of this multiple baseline single case study is to study the (cost)effectiveness of a social robot in reducing professional caregiver support and promoting independence for individuals in long-term disability care experiencing problems with daily structure and planning. The main research questions it aims to answer are:

* What is the effect of the social robot on the frequency of moments professional caregivers support individuals experiencing problems with daily structure and planning with the execution of daily activities, compared to care as usual, after 6 weeks?
* Does the effect of the social robot persist in the long term (after 6 months)?
* What is the cost-effectiveness of the social robot?

Participants will:

* Use a social robot in their daily living environment
* Answer survey questions about their quality of life and wellbeing during the study period
* Share their experiences in interviews

Their profesional caregivers will:

* Register the frequency and duration of support they provide to the participant daily for 13 weeks and a 2-week follow-up
* Give weekly updates and score participants' goal attainment while using the social robot
* Fill in questionnaires on participants' productivity and health care consumption during the study period
* Share their experiences in interviews

Conditions

• Brain Injury, Chronic
• Intellectual Disability, Mild to Moderate
• Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Down Syndrome

Interventions

DEVICE

Robot Tessa

Tessa is a small flowerpot shaped robot with two amber LED-lit eyes. The robot is always connected to the power network and internet and speaks reminders at a preset time. These notifications are installed by the user, who can be the professional caregiver or in some cases the participant themselves, using an accessible web app. Together with the participant and their professional caregiver, selected activities are translated into goals that the robot will support using Goal Attainment Scaling (Kiresuk \& Sherman, 1968), an individualized evaluation method to monitor the progress of (treatment) goals. The goals are evaluated weekly during the study period using a 5-point scale.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Tilburg University

  collaborator OTHER

• Maastricht University

  collaborator OTHER

• KU Leuven

  collaborator OTHER

• Ipse de Bruggen, disability care organisation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• SGL, disability care organisation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Hartekamp Groep, disability care organisation

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Disability Studies in Nederland, foundation for disability studies in the Netherlands

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• ZoTeG, academic workplace on technology in disability care

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Academy Het Dorp

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Brigitte JF Boon, Prof. Dr. · Academy Het Dorp, Arnhem, The Netherlands

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-11-29

Primary Completion

2025-06-30

Completion

2025-06-30

Countries

• Netherlands

Study Locations