Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada.
J Med Internet Res. 2020 Nov 19;22(11):e23496. doi: 10.2196/23496.
Child life specialists (CLSs) play an important role in supporting patients and their families during their visits to a children's hospital. Although CLSs are equipped with considerable expertise to support families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives, we introduced an additional resource to them in the form of a humanoid robot named MEDi.
The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of CLSs using a robot to support children.
We interviewed 7 CLSs who had worked with this robot for several years. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using open and axial coding.
The first main theme that emerged was the process of navigating from fear to friendship in learning to use a humanoid robot for therapeutic support. The second major theme was MEDi as a source of connection and support to children. CLSs' perceptions of MEDi as an adaptable resource and working with the limits of MEDi constituted the last 2 themes.
These descriptions show how CLSs can incorporate a robot into their practice.
儿童生活专家(CLS)在儿童医院就诊期间为患者及其家属提供重要支持。尽管 CLS 具备相当的专业知识,能够在患者及其家属生命中最艰难的时刻为其提供支持,但我们为他们引入了一种名为 MEDi 的人形机器人作为额外的资源。
本研究旨在探讨 CLS 使用机器人为儿童提供支持的体验。
我们采访了 7 名从事这项工作多年的 CLS。对转录后的访谈进行了开放式和轴向编码分析。
出现的第一个主要主题是在学习使用人形机器人进行治疗支持时,从恐惧到友谊的导航过程。第二个主要主题是 MEDi 作为与儿童建立联系和支持的源泉。CLS 对 MEDi 的看法是一种适应性资源,以及与 MEDi 的限制一起工作,构成了最后两个主题。
这些描述展示了 CLS 如何将机器人融入他们的实践中。