PARO as a Biofeedback Medical Device for Mental Health in the COVID-19 Era
Name
sustainability-13-11502-v4.pdf
Size
3.19 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
0d31f42e7f034b34a0befa45a7dfe413
Author(s)
Shibata, Takanori
Hung, Lillian
Petersen, Sandra
Darling, Kate
Inoue, Kaoru
Martyn, Katharine
Hori, Yoko
Lane, Geoffrey
Park, Davis
Mizoguchi, Ruth
Date Issued
October 2021
Journal
Sustainability
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Citation
Sustainability 13 (20): 11502 (2021)
Version
Final published version
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is spreading across the globe, and it could take years for society to fully recover. Personal protective equipment (PPE), various hygiene measures, and social distancing have been implemented to reduce “human to human” contact, which is an essential part of outbreak prevention. The pressure of the pandemic combined with decreased communication and social contact have taken a toll on the mental health of many individuals, especially with respect to anxiety and depression. Effective use of robots and technology as a substitute for—or in coordination with—traditional medicine could play a valuable role in reducing psychological distress now more than ever. This paper summarizes the results of a comprehensive review of clinical research on PARO, a therapeutic seal robot, which has been used extensively as a biofeedback medical device and socially assistive robot in the field of mental health. PARO has proven to be an effective and economical non-pharmacological intervention method for both mental and physical well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilization of PARO during these times has provided more data for consideration and has helped in mitigating the negative stigma surrounding using robots in therapeutic settings.
MIT Department
AgeLab (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Media Laboratory
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.3390/su132011502
