Using a robot to personalise health education for children with diabetes type 1: A pilot study

Objective: Assess the effects of personalised robot behaviours on the enjoyment and motivation of children (8-12) with diabetes, and on their acquisition of health knowledge, in educational play. Methods: Children (N = 5) played diabetes quizzes against a personal or neutral robot on three occasions: once at the clinic, twice at home. The personal robot asked them about their names, sports and favourite colours, referred to these data during the interaction, and engaged in small talk. Fun, motivation and diabetes knowledge was measured. Child-robot interaction was observed. Results: Children said the robot and quiz were fun, but this appreciation declined over time. With the personal robot, the children looked more at the robot and spoke more. The children mimicked the robot. Finally, an increase in knowledge about diabetes was observed. Conclusion: The study provides strong indication for how a personal robot can help children to improve health literacy in an enjoyable way. Children mimic the robot. When the robot is personal, they follow suit. Our results are positive and establish a good foundation for further development and testing in a larger study. Practice implications: Using a robot in health care could contribute to self-management in children and help them to cope with their illness. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.