Abstract
The decline in motivation for inpatient rehabilitation among older adults after the acute stage of an illness has become an urgent issue. Repeated encouragement and structured verbal feedback during inpatient rehabilitation has been shown to result in sufficient motivation. This study aims to verify whether a human-shaped customizable communication robot (Pepper) can encourage elderly individuals to seek inpatient rehabilitation after the acute phase of an illness. The patient in this study was a 67-year-old man who lacked motivation for rehabilitation and often preferred experienced nurses to inexperienced ones. First, we created a key construct of encouraging phrases used by experienced nurses on a daily basis, which were subsequently integrated into Pepper. Phrases were updated daily for a more targeted behavior. The patient communicated with Pepper and was satisfied with Pepper’s comments. He underwent rehabilitation daily and stopped refusing routine communication with inexperienced nurses. Pepper did not jeopardize his self-respect, because it did not evaluate the patient’s basic conversations. Furthermore, Pepper not only enhanced motivation, but also helped establish a good relationship with inexperienced nurses. The encouragement and structured verbal feedback during inpatient rehabilitation provided by Pepper contributed to the patient’s recovery by enhancing his motivation for rehabilitation.
