Photo: naira.mechse.Illinois.edu
The National Science Foundation has recently given a $1.5 million grant to a roboticist at the University of Illinois. This roboticist, Dr. Naira Hovakimyan, plans to use this money to experiment with the idea of designing small autonomous drones to perform simple household chores. Specifically, Dr. Hovakimyan wants to develop this technology as an aid to the rapidly increasing elderly population.
Fully functioning, autonomous, robotic caregivers may not yet be on the horizon, but many roboticists and physicians predict that there will soon be a wave of new advances in computerized, robotic, and Internet-connected technologies that will change the way care is provided in the next 10-20 years. Ultimately, the goal is to allow elders to stay in their homes longer with the help from these new technologies. Some actions Dr. Hovakimyan hopes these drones will be able to perform are retrieving medicine bottles from another room, reaching under a table to grab an object, cleaning the house, and weeding the lawn.
Household chores are not the only way roboticists hope technology can change the face of long term care. The hope is that these robots will be able to eventually provide everything from coaching to communication to companionship. However, there are many people who are skeptic to these new technological advances. Many worry about the practicality and price of these new technologies. Also, many elders are opposed to having a robot as a caregiver or companion since loneliness is a major issue for them.
Nevertheless, most modern long term care policies have a built-in Alternate Services Benefit. According to one of our insurer’s guides,
“This benefit helps to ensure that policyholders will have access to emerging services that may develop over time, but are not currently identified in their policy. For example, in certain circumstances, benefits for services not specifically covered under the policy, like robotics, may be authorized at the time of the claim. The benefit paid must be a lower-cost alternative to covered services.”
So, could a robot or drone be a more affordable and practical solution for home health care needs in the future? Quite possibly yes.
