Perspective Chapter: Service Robots in Healthcare Settings

Abstract

Robots will play a part in all aspects of healthcare. The presence of service robots in healthcare demands special attention, whether it is in the automation of menial labour, prescription distribution, or offering comfort. In this chapter, we examine the several applications of healthcare-oriented robots in the acute, ambulatory and at-home settings. We discuss the role of robotics in reducing environmental dangers, as well as at the patient’s bedside and in the operating room, in the acute setting. We examine how robotics can protect and scale up healthcare services in the ambulatory setting. Finally, in the at-home scenario, we look at how robots can be employed for both rural/remote healthcare delivery and home-based care. In addition to assessing the current state of robotics at the interface of healthcare delivery, we describe critical problems for the future where such technology will be ubiquitous. Patients, health care workers, institutions, insurance companies, and governments will realize that service robots will deliver significant benefits in the future in terms of leverage and cost savings, while maintaining or improving access, equity, and high-quality health care.

A systematic review of collaborative robots for nurses: where are we now, and where is the evidence?

“…Though the earliest robots in healthcare were introduced in the 1980s and focused on surgical applications ( Dobbs et al, 2017 ; Goh and Ali, 2022 ; Gamal et al, 2024 ), robots developed for healthcare today cover a much broader array of capabilities including disinfection ( Kaiser et al, 2020 ), prescription drug dispensing ( Yadav et al, 2022 ), physical therapy assistance ( Karabegović et al, 2021 ; Anson et al, 2023 ), emotional support ( Morgan et al, 2022 ), and social companionship ( Lorenz et al, 2019 ; Singla and Nguan, 2022 ). Others note potential concerns, including challenges with clinical workflow integration, technical limitations of robots, and risks of over-automation reducing human interactions ( Elish, 2020 ; Jabr and Sandhu, 2020 ; Lawrence et al, 2022 ; Klebbe et al, 2023 ).…”

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“…Though the earliest robots in healthcare were introduced in the 1980s and focused on surgical applications (Dobbs et al, 2017;Goh and Ali, 2022;Gamal et al, 2024), robots developed for healthcare today cover a much broader array of capabilities including disinfection (Kaiser et al, 2020), prescription drug dispensing (Yadav et al, 2022), physical therapy assistance (Karabegović et al, 2021;Anson et al, 2023), emotional support (Morgan et al, 2022), and social companionship (Lorenz et al, 2019;Singla and Nguan, 2022). Others note potential concerns, including challenges with clinical workflow integration, technical limitations of robots, and risks of over-automation reducing human interactions (Elish, 2020;Jabr and Sandhu, 2020;Lawrence et al, 2022;Klebbe et al, 2023).…”