Hudson Summer, Nishat Fareha, Stinson Jennifer, Litwin Sasha, Zeller Frauke, Wiles Brittany, Foster Mary Ellen, Ali Samina
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1C9, Canada.
Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.
Children (Basel). 2023 Sep 6;10(9):1511. doi: 10.3390/children10091511.
Children commonly experience pain and distress in healthcare settings related to medical procedures such as blood tests and intravenous insertions (IVIs). Inadequately addressed pain and distress can result in both short- and long-term negative consequences. The use of socially assistive robotics (SARs) to reduce procedure-related distress and pain in children's healthcare settings has shown promise; however, the current options lack autonomous adaptability. This study presents a descriptive qualitative needs assessment of healthcare providers (HCPs) in two Canadian pediatric emergency departments (ED) to inform the design an artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced social robot to be used as a distraction tool in the ED to facilitate IVIs. Semi-structured virtual individual and focus group interviews were conducted with eleven HCPs. Four main themes were identified: (1) common challenges during IVIs (i.e., child distress and resource limitations), (2) available tools for pain and distress management during IVIs (i.e., pharmacological and non-pharmacological), (3) response to SAR appearance and functionality (i.e., personalized emotional support, adaptive distraction based on child's preferences, and positive reinforcement), and (4) anticipated benefits and challenges of SAR in the ED (i.e., ensuring developmentally appropriate interactions and space limitations). HCPs perceive AI-enhanced social robots as a promising tool for distraction during IVIs in the ED.
儿童在医疗环境中通常会经历与血液检测和静脉穿刺等医疗程序相关的疼痛和痛苦。疼痛和痛苦若得不到充分解决，可能会导致短期和长期的负面后果。在儿童医疗环境中使用社交辅助机器人（SAR）来减少与医疗程序相关的痛苦和疼痛已显示出前景；然而，目前的选择缺乏自主适应性。本研究对加拿大两个儿科急诊科的医疗服务提供者（HCP）进行了描述性定性需求评估，以指导设计一种人工智能（AI）增强的社交机器人，用作急诊科的分心工具以促进静脉穿刺。对11名HCP进行了半结构化虚拟个人访谈和焦点小组访谈。确定了四个主要主题：（1）静脉穿刺期间的常见挑战（即儿童痛苦和资源限制），（2）静脉穿刺期间用于疼痛和痛苦管理的可用工具（即药物和非药物工具），（3）对SAR外观和功能的反应（即个性化情感支持、基于儿童偏好的适应性分心和积极强化），以及（4）急诊科中SAR的预期益处和挑战（即确保符合发育阶段的互动和空间限制）。HCP认为人工智能增强的社交机器人是急诊科静脉穿刺期间一种有前景的分心工具。
