Social Robots for Comforting Hospitalized Children? Not Yet.

Technology solutions for helping children cope in medical environments have their place, but social robots currently have too many limitations.

Child life specialists (CLSs) provide emotional and educational support for children and parents during clinical encounters, such as hospitalizations and painful procedures. To pilot an intervention in which social robots (SRs) could potentially serve this role when CLSs are not available, a team of roboticists partnered with a children's hospital to test the acceptability and feasibility of using Huggable, a plush interactive doll.

They enrolled 54 children aged 3 to 10 years who had been hospitalized for surgical or medical reasons; 18 interacted with the Huggable SR, 17 interacted with a tablet-based Huggable avatar, and 19 were given a plush doll. The SR and avatar were operated through a “Wizard of Oz” procedure — similar to medical sim…

Reviewing Author

Jenny Radesky, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMelissa & Doug Toys (Consultant and Board of Directors)

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute for Child Health and Development; National Institutes of Health

Jenny Radesky, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardMelissa & Doug Toys (Consultant and Board of Directors)

Grant/Research SupportNational Institute for Child Health and Development; National Institutes of Health

Social Robots for Comforting Hospitalized Children? Not Yet.

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Reviewing Author