Dr. Lorna Guse
How do we help those who have difficulty communicating? For Dr. Lorna Guse, this is a very important question.
She had already been watching people affected by Alzheimer’s disease struggle with communication for a long time when she heard about an innovation created by a Japanese engineer named Dr. Takanori Shibata. Dr. Shibata had invented a table-top robot that resembled a baby Canadian harp seal.
PARO, an abbreviation of the Japanese term for “personal robot”, the harp seal shaped robot is made of a metal skeleton covered with hypoallergenic fur. There are a number of tiny computers inside that react to different stimuli including touch, sound and light. It actually sounds like a real seal.
Dr. Guse knew that people with cognitive problems can have trouble communicating, but they still are able to understand a lot. She thought that PARO might be able to help them communicate better.
While at a conference in Osaka, Japan in 2007, Dr. Guse contacted Dr. Shibata and asked how she could get one. She was surprised that they were available for sale.
Before Dr. Guse could bring one back to Canada, she needed to do some research first. “Would the staff accept it?” she asked. “How would the families react? What about the thoughts of the residents themselves?”
Dr. Guse was glad to find that the nurse practitioners at Deer Lodge Centre wanted to give it a try. They were hoping that PARO could become a social assistant device or communication device for residents with dementia or those who have trouble communicating or socializing.
“It has been an intensive process,” she says.
Deer Lodge is currently working on bridging the gap between residents and their grandchildren. The group of researchers is hoping that PARO will help make communicating less stressful for the little ones.
In the new year, Dr. Guse and her team will be looking at how PARO might help those suffering from Sundown Syndrome, a condition in which people with dementia can become more agitated as the sun goes down.
Dr. Guse’s project team also includes Genevieve Thompson, Angela Osterreicher, Kerstin Roger, Elaine Murdoch, Rod Kebicz and Daryl Dyck.
