An In-Home Advanced Robotic System to Manage Elderly Home-Care Patients’ Medications: A Pilot Safety and Usability Study
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2017-05
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Citation of Original Publication
Rantanen, P., Parkkari, T., Leikola, S., Araksinen, M., Lyles, A. (2017). An In-home Advanced Robotic System to Manage Elderly Home-care Patients' Medications: A Pilot Safety and Usability Study. Clinical Theraputics 39(5). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clinthera.2017.03.020.
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Abstract
ABSTRACT Purpose: We examined the safety profile and usability of an integrated advanced robotic device and telecare system to promote medication adherence for elderly home-car e-patients. Methods: There were two phases.
Phase I
aimed to verify under controlled conditions in a single nursing home (n ¼ 17 patients) that no robotic malfunctions would hinder the device’s safe use.
Phase II
involved home-care patients from 3 sites (n ¼ 27) who were on long-term medication. On-time dispensing and missed doses were recorded by the robotic system. Patients’ and nurses’ experiences were assessed with structured interviews. Findings: The 17 nursing home patients had 457 total days using the device (Phase I; mean, 26.9 per patient). On-time sachet retrieval occurred with 97.7% of the alerts, and no medication doses were missed. Atbaseline, PhaseII home-dwelling patients reported difficulty remembering to take their medicines (23%), and 18% missed at least 2 doses per week. Most Phase II patients (78%) lived alone. The device delivered and patients retrieved medicine sachets for 99% of the alerts. All patients and 96% of nurses reported the device was easy to use.
Implications:
This trial demonstrated the safety profile and usability of an in-home advanced robotic device and telecare system and its acceptability to patients and nurses. It supports individualized patient dosing schedules, patient–provider communications, and on-time, in-home medication delivery to promote adherence. Real time dose-by-dose monitoring and communication with providers if a dose is missed provide oversight generally not seen in homecare.