Proposed Topic (Most preferred): :
Staff Engagement and Empowerment (motivating staff / teamwork / work revamp tackling manpower issue / staff wellness / OSH / retention)
Proposed Topic (Second preferred): :
Enhancing Partnership with Patients and Community (Projects initiated to engage patients / carers / community to improve efficiency / quality of care)
Authors (including presenting author) :
Tse CY(1), Lee TK(1), Ng KK(1)
Affiliation :
(1)Department of Psychiatry, Tai Po Hospital
Introduction :
Robot assistant (robot) had been put into service in various settings in NTEC hospitals, for instance to assist in fall prevention and as hospital receptionist. Based on idea of S.M.I.L.E. (i.e., Safety, Mental Orientation, Information, Linkage, Education/Entertainment), robot started to serve in TPH since 4/9/2023 in two Medicine and Geriatrics wards, one psychogeriatric ward. Besides, robot was also deployed to a psychiatric ward specialized for caring patients with substance abuse issues, which was a first-ever mode of utilization across hospitals. This paper is to illustrate how the use of robot could benefit with patient care and efficient ward operation in a substance abuse (SA) ward.
Objectives :
1. Facilitate psychoeducation regarding substance abuse issues
2. Assist patient engagement activities
3. Provide workforce support in adjunction with staff’s day-to-day care
Methodology :
Robot at TPH carries out a range of automated clinical support under pre-defined schedule, like regular fall prevention/hand hygiene reminder and reality orientation. Other than these, robot at SA ward responsible for other daily duties. Firstly, facilitate nurses’ psychoeducation in 2 scheduled delivery mode: i) interactive information provider about substances’ harmful effects (1 hour in the afternoon) with preset narrative, graphic and written content; ii) a 30-minute period of automated video playback in the evening which involves introduction of residential detox service, experience sharing from former substance abusers of successful abstinence. Secondly, to assist patient engagement in terms of prompting to do simple physical exercise (twice per day) with video demonstration. Outcome were evaluated in a 10-week evaluation period: i) number of sessions robot facilitated; ii) amount of time robot provided automated workforce support; iii) patient and staff satisfaction surveys were administered.
Result & Outcome :
From 16/10/23 to 29/12/23, robot facilitated 150 scheduled psychoeducation sessions with 719 patient headcounts; it assisted 150 physical exercise sessions with 1085 patient headcounts. Besides, robot saved 130 minutes/day for staff which involved regular fall prevention/hand hygiene reminder, reality orientation and physical exercise. For satisfaction survey, 95% patients (n=20, N=21) agreed robot could help to provide psychoeducation, and felt overall satisfied with the introduction of robot to ward. Besides, 100% staff (N=27) felt satisfied to have robot as a team member. To conclude, robot could provide meaningful assistance in the care and workforce support of substance abuse ward.
