Beyond Motor Impairment: Empowering Functional Performance With Robotics.

Abstract

There is an increasing need for assistive robots to support independent living for people with physical disabilities, but few are commercially accessible to users in their homes. Our objective was to investigate how the functional performance of everyday activities improved the performance of an individual with quadriplegia using the Stretch robot. We implemented a participatory design approach using a single subject volunteer sampling. Point-in-time evaluations included Stroke Specific Quality of Life Scale (SS-QOL) and Stroke Impact Scale (SIS). Pre- and post-measures included the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) to assess intervention effectiveness on personalized goals. There was a statistically significant improvement in baseline GAS scores based on the individual's goals in grooming (+2), self-feeding (+2), social participation (+2 giving a rose, +0 playing cards), and meal planning (+2) along with a T-scale score of 74.43. The individual's functional performance in daily activities improved with Stretch while reducing care partner assistance, contributing positively to their experiences.