Search Here

There are approximately 15,000 people in the UK alone which are 100 years and older. These figures might increase in the coming years, given the ever evolving technology in health and wellness. But with this fact, people from the health system are also pressured to enhance their way of taking care of the elderly.

According to BBC, an international team is developing a £2m project to create healthcare robots that would help in taking care of the elderly people in sheltered homes for old people. The robots will help with the basic tasks like taking tablets, or companionship for the elderly. The creation of these robots will ease the burden on hospitals and other medical facilities.

The researchers from University of Bedfordshire and Middlesex University will lend a hand in creating a personal social robot, popularly known as Pepper Robots, which can be pre-programmed to suit the needs of the patient.

The said project is funded by the Japanese government and the EU. Pepper robots are manufactured by Softbank Robotics and already used in thousands of homes all over Japan.

It is believed that this ambitious project will improve the medical healthcare of the elderly by providing entertainment. This could also help them to connect in a better way by using smart appliances.

These healthcare robots will communicate and accept commands through speech and gestures. They will also be programmed to moved independently and pick up signs when the elder people is feeling pain.

Similar robots are widely used in hospitals in Japan. And these robots perform simple tasks such as serving foods and lifting patients.

The target duration for this project to finish is three years from now as further discussed by BBC. And according to The Merkle, the healthcare workers that take care of the elder people are increasing because of the aging population. If this project will materialize in three years, taking care of the elderly will be much easier.

The creation of these healthcare robots will not eliminate the jobs of healthcare people. In fact, it will ease the burden of the healthcare personnel that took care of the elderly.