According to a new study on rehabilitation support theory, services for stroke patients may not always need to undertake hands-on duties.
During the recovery process for patients with brain conditions, various therapies are used. For example, many people require rehabilitation involving physical treatment like sitting and walking to regain their normal motor skills.
Rehabilitation of patients facing challenges because of staffing issues
On the other end, occupational therapy entails sessions that can help with basic everyday tasks like eating and dressing. Because of a neurological condition, speech therapy entails training individuals on how to reclaim their vocal and speaking habits.
Whereas these therapies necessitate a large number of care providers to assist patients throughout sessions, there appears to be a staffing deficit in these sorts of rehabilitation institutions. But, again, the issue stems from a lack of funding and a shortage of personnel in the business.
Substitutes may make it easier for patients to complete their physical therapy. But on the other hand, these informal caregivers might not have all the necessary expertise, patience, or set of skills to fully support stroke patients.
Shelly Levy-Tzedek, a specialist at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience and the study’s lead author, stated that this sort of rehabilitation and treatment issue might be fixed by using assistive robots for patients, assisting them in regaining social cues, physical exercise, and learning and memory in case human caregivers are unavailable.
Researchers create a robotic platform to assist in rehabilitation initiatives.
In Q1 2022, Levy-Tzedek and his colleagues conducted a study that created a systematic approach to improving rehabilitation initiatives. Results demonstrated that assistive robots would effectively offer patients the required support in the same capacity as human care providers.
He and his colleagues created a platform that comprises a robotic gaming exercise for stroke victims who require extensive rehabilitation. Together with the platform, the researchers discovered seven exercises that successfully stimulate functional activities and enlisted Softbank Robotics’ semi-humanoid machine Pepper to help people complete these specialized tasks.
