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allied
academies
March 14-16, 2019 | London, UK
12
th
International Conference on
8
th
International Conference on
Vascular Dementia and Dementia
Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Joint Event
&
Journal of Brain and Neurology | Volume 3
A survey of expectations about using robot therapy for the elderly
Kazue Sawami
1
, Kimura M
1
, Kitamura T
1
, Furusumi M
1
, Kawaguchi M
1
, Suishu C
2
, Morisaki N
3
and
Hattori S
4
1
Nara Medical University, Japan
2
Shubun University, Japan
3
Himeji University, Japan
4
Wakayama Medical University, Japan
Introduction:
Japan’s life expectancy has grown, with people
now able to live until they are 100 years old. It is a wish of all
people to spend their old age richly and happily. However, as
the population of young people is decreasing, it is necessary to
devisemeasurestosupporttheelderly.Withthisinmind,wehold
seminars about supporting the elderly once every two weeks
to train supporters to have the necessary expertise and skills.
On top of that we are experimenting in using a communication
robot as an assistant. This time at the supporter seminar, wewill
carryout training in robot therapy for the seminar attendees and
announce the results of a questionnaire about the use of robots.
Method:
The target of the questionnaire was 41 supporter
seminar attendees, and the survey items are opinions on the
psychological influence of robot therapy and the use of robots.
Result:
Theaverageageoftheattendeeswas60.1±9.5yearsold,
35 females and 6males. The top five influences of robot therapy
were as follows. 1) Fun, 2) Cheers you up, 3) Improvement of
mind and body by dancing with a robot, 4) Improvement in
cognitive functions through communication, 5) Helps with
stress prevention. The opinions of robot therapy were able to
be used by elderly people without putting them in any harm,
able to be used as a supplement for exercise, provides brain
training, someone to talk to and provides psychological care.
Conclusion:
Not only for fun and healing, the influence of
robot therapy has been mentioned as a way to improve mental
and physical functions. In the utilization method, the ability
to avoid harm to the elderly is cited first, so the two points of
improvement inmental and physical functions and avoiding risk
bytherobotcouldbefocusedonasthegoalofrobottherapy.This
research funding is scientific research expenses of the Japanese
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
We are grateful to NTT East for their contributions to the study.
Speaker Biography
Kazue Sawami of the presenter of this research is a professor at NaraMedical University.
Her Ph.D. acquisition is a health science, and the recent study is the prevention of
dementia in elderly people. Research currently being developed is the intervention by
artificial intelligence, and support of the elderly by the information equipment remote
control system. Results of their research group can be viewed at the following address.
e:
sawami@naramed-u.ac.jp