Robot Caregivers Now Start Servicing Elderly Care Facilities

By Qudsia Ibrahim | Jan 31, 2017 | 11:01 AM EST

Robots for the care of elderly is an exceptional idea that can help in many aspects. The elderly care homes need a serious attention to improving the quality of living for those spending their last years of life away from their own homes that they made and lived in.

Human bots with good bedside manners and cultural understanding can solve the disastrous situation in elderly care homes. A team of experts from all over the world is working on a £2m project to develop a variety of robots that can help taking care of elderly people in shelters or elderly care accommodations, reports Robot Hub.

Called "Pepper Robots," these moving and working aids are pre-programmed to suit the person they are helping. Within three years of time, these will be in the market for the Japanese government and EU is funding their development.

Prof Irena Papadopoulos, an expert in trans-cultural nursing, said: "As people live longer, health systems are put under increasing pressure. Only in the UK 15,000 people have surpassed hundred years of age and the number is constantly increasing. That is why the development is fast and is expected to be completed within three years.

Hospitals and care homes are under extreme pressure which will be eased with the aid-bots. The elderly also will experience improved care and living. The key purpose is not replacing human care with bots but the focus is on enhancing and complementing existing care according to BBC.

She also said that in the start the bots will be proffering care to those living in care homes but as soon as the idea becomes more acceptable for people, people will be able to have them in their own homes, too. Japan that is funding the bot development program already has them in thousands of home for care and work.

The Japanese company Softbank Robotics is aiming to create robots that can co-exist with humans and make their life safer, happier, smarter, and healthier. The upcoming robot edition is expected to connect better through smart appliances with humans that they live with and the outside world.



Japanese hospitals "employ" such robots for lifting the patients and serving them with food and the test trial in the UK is expected to take place at Advinia Healthcare homes in the UK.

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