The new program Living, Support and Care for the Elderly (WOZO) aims to change the way in which older people are cared for in the Netherlands. One of the basic principles is that healthcare will become more digital “if possible”, Minister Conny Helder (Long-term Care) wrote in a statement on Monday. letter to the House of Representatives. Among other things, the use of robots is mentioned. They should supplement, not replace, the scarce healthcare staff.
There is a shortage of healthcare personnel, while the demand for healthcare is increasing. That is why something has to change, according to Minister Helder and several parties in the care of the elderly. The new WOZO program should contribute to this.
The key to healthcare lies in the words “if possible”: even if possible, at home if possible and digitally if possible. According to the new program, the elderly remain as independent as possible, partly with the help of devices.
Minister Helder says that the program can simultaneously contribute to the quality of care and reduce the workload of care providers. As examples for digital care, she mentions video calling with the district nurse, a robot that reminds people to take their medicines and a bed sensor that registers if someone falls.
It sounds futuristic and dystopian at the same time: a future in which robots help the elderly. A month ago, Gupta Strategists, commissioned by the enterprise organization for the technology industry FME, calculated that technology and robots could potentially replace more than 100,000 healthcare workers. But that won’t happen that quickly, experts say.
‘Replacing people is not feasible’
Robots cannot completely replace human healthcare professionals yet, says professor David Abbink. He conducts research at TU Delft into the interaction between humans and machines. “The vision of humanoid robots that could replace the work of healthcare workers may be tempting, but technically not yet feasible,” he says. “It makes more sense to think about how robotic technology can be used to support human care.”
Technology as a supplement rather than a replacement therefore appears to be the commitment of the parties involved in WOZO. This also endorses the elderly organization ANBO, which is involved in the program as part of the Senior Coalition.
“One of the most important things is that people want to remain independent as much as possible,” says ANBO spokesperson Renate Evers. “Digitalization can help with this, but there is much more to it. There must be enough suitable homes and, for example, attention to activities in a neighbourhood, so that the elderly do not become lonely.”
Robot can help with independence of the elderly
In the end, it is almost a matter of customizing who benefits from which technology. That is also what Maartje Claassen, director of the Dutch company SARA Robotics, says. The company makes software for robots to partially relieve the workload of healthcare professionals.
SARA is already used by fifteen healthcare institutions. There, robots help clients with brain training and movement, for example, but they can also play music. In addition, robots can help people with a visual impairment, for example, with cleaning, by providing a step-by-step plan and checking whether it has been successful.
“The elderly can do a lot by themselves, but sometimes they need some support,” says Claassen. “That doesn’t always have to be an employee. A robot offers people some help, but also the feeling that they have done it themselves.”
‘Technology should keep working in healthcare fun’
The purpose of the robots is not to scare healthcare workers away. On the contrary. “We don’t want to take away the physical work,” says Claassen. “And don’t take away the fun work either.”
“I think that healthcare cannot do without people. We always want to be helped by people. See technology as an extension for the healthcare worker, if they are short of hands. By taking over certain tasks, the staff actually has more time for a- one-to-one contact with the client, rather than having them do a quick round.”
There is not yet a technological solution that covers all problems in healthcare. That is why individual solutions are devised, which must all come together later on. It is important that aids are developed together with healthcare personnel and institutions, Abbink believes.
“It should make their work more fun and easier,” he says. “Otherwise you get what happens in distribution centers: people are allowed to do tasks that are difficult to automate, then you are left with the leftovers. Technology as a solution is wonderful, but make sure it fits well with human wishes.”