The initiative is part of a pioneering project that the entities Aspid and MIFAS have launched in Girona
have a robot at home it seemed to them, more than futuristic, “of movie”. But when from MIFAS they told them about a pioneer home telecare device in the care of people with disability, they did not think twice. daisy rodriguezwho suffered a stroke two years ago that left her in a wheelchair, is the first person from Girona to have one. Just two weeks agothe robot wakes her up every morning, reminds her of medication, medical appointments, puts music on it (which she herself can search for directly through Youtube) and updates her on current affairs, reading the headlines of the day’s news and projecting the information on the screen.
For two weeks Margarita Rodríguez has lived with a pioneering telecare robot that wakes her up, reminds her of her routines and allows her family to locate her by video call
“It keeps me a lot of company”celebrates Rodríguez, that when he pronounces “Hey Temi”, the robot runs to look for her to find out how it can help her. Only her, because works with facial recognition. For your partner, the arrival of the robot home has been a kind of lifeboat. “I had to leave work because Margarita needed me at home, but every time I had to leave to go to the supermarket she suffered, now instead I know that if it falls or something happens, the robot will let me know right away”he assures.
Until May 2025, a total of 16 robots will serve 48 people in the provinces of Girona and Lleida
And in fact, you can also check it with a video call, and the robot will go looking for it. “Sometimes I would call her on her mobile and if she didn’t answer, I would get scared and run home, but now I can call you through the device and make sure it’s okay,” he explains.
More safety and quality of life
for now, still the functions it can perform are becoming known and discovered. And it is that apart from reminding the user of the appointments they have on the agenda, when they should take the medication or detect falls (and ask for help), the robot can also search for objects, or perform memory and physical rehabilitation exercises. She too feel safer since the robot has arrived at your home. “At first everything was a bit strange, but now I feel calmer, I know that if he is there I can stay alone at home for a few hours,” explains Rodríguez. She, during the course, works in the occupational center that MIFAS has in Riudellots de la Selva.
The project, promoted by the Association of Paraplegics and Physical Disabilities of Lleida (Aspid) along with the Girona entity MIFASwants improve the quality of life and autonomy of people with disabilities. Aimed at people with physical, organic or neurological impairment, it wants to respond to loneliness, isolation, mobility difficulties, to forgetfulness and cognitive deterioration, and to people’s needs for physical, cognitive or functional improvement or rehabilitation. The robots are designed and manufactured by the Lleida company group jumped. The project has a cost of 350,000 euros and is financed by the Next Generation funds, the European Social Fund and the Generalitat of Catalonia.
16 robots in Girona and Lleida
In its pilot phase, a total of six people with physical disabilities who are members of MIFAS will benefit from the initiative in all the Girona regions, each of which will be able to keep it at home for half a year. Until May 2025, the 16 robots that will be launched throughout Catalonia will serve a total of 48 peoplebetween the province of Girona and the demarcation of Lleida.
The MIFAS social worker and person in charge of the Area of Attention to the Person, anna embersnotes that “the project will be filed based on the experience of the users, improving the weak points and reinforcing the strong points of the telecare robot”. Starting in September, the entity plans to finalize the installation of the robots with the rest of the Girona users: “We are conducting interviews and evaluations of the users and The intention is to install another five robots in the coming weeks,” holds Embers.
Although the balance of the Girona user is “very positive”acknowledges that “may still have greater potential”. However, he points out that “not the ultimate solution because people with physical disabilities we need a human person to help us get out of bed, to get dressed, to shower, to eat or to go to the bathroom”. However, he celebrates that it is an “add-on”, aware that “in my case I am very physically dependent and at the moment robots still do not replace the work of people “, it states.