ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has affected the conditions of work in healthcare institutions and the quality of patient care around the world. Emerging healthcare robotic technology may facilitate and improve the overall quality of life, as well as the diagnostics, rehabilitation, and intervention services. This paper reports the lessons learned from actions carried out in the implementation of the DIH-HERO project call across Europe for robotic solutions that support healthcare activities. Conclusion remarks are as follows: i) technology pull and the urgent need together accelerate the innovation development and deployment, ii) it takes time to establish safety and legal regulations for the deployment of human-machine devices, so the ethical, safety, and reliability aspects of robotic application need to be carefully considered, iii) technology adoption depends on the trust of the users to the technology, iv) existing robotic technology for prevention, diagnosis, hospital admission, rehabilitation, and intervention is mature enough for the adaptation and deployment, v) unskilled general population should be trained for the usage of robotic technology. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Our objective was to assess levels of knowledge, attitudes, and practices against COVID-19. A total of 3774 persons were surveyed between September 18 and October 16, 2020. Eighty% resided in Buenos Aires City or Buenos Aires Province: 58% had completed tertiary education;72% worked either independently or as employees in the public or the private sector;51% used a prepaid health care plan, 34% were covered by a trade union-based health system, and near 10% used the public health services. According to the socio-demographic variables analyzed, the population studied was representative of the middle class. A total of 7% had been diagnosed with COVID-19. There was a high level of knowledge about the disease, judging by the high proportion of correct answers (80-90%). Regarding the measures taken by the government, the answers varied widely ("correct", "inadequate", "harmful", "unnecessary", etc.). The medical staff was the preferred source of information;44% of respondents felt protected by their health system;28% would only seek healthcare when feeling very sick. There was a high degree of compliance with most protection measures, except for attendance to social events in poorly ventilated spaces (50%). The results of these studies contribute to establishing communication strategies for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and thus deal more efficiently with eventual outbreaks of the disease.
ABSTRACT
The use of robotics in health care has seen a recent rise in interest due to its potential for use during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The transmission rate of COVID-19 has meant that health-care workers are under increasing pressure, risks, and workload to manage the requirements of personal protective equipment, strict disinfection procedures, and the heightened medical needs of patients. Patients are suffering from isolation, and not just in hospitals: higher-risk individuals must shelter, meaning social interactions, particularly in care homes, are limited. Robots can help by providing disinfection and logistics services that support patients and health-care professionals, by acting as devices to be used for rehabilitation at home (for both pre-existing conditions and for COVID-19-related treatment), and via interventional systems that can widely distribute future vaccinations.