Aging Japan: Robots may have role in future of elder care
Aging
Japan: Robots may have role in future of elder care
Malcolm
Foster March 27, 2018 / 4:29 PM
TOKYO
(Reuters) - Paro the furry seal cries softly while an elderly woman pets it.
Pepper, a humanoid, waves while leading a group of senior citizens in
exercises. The upright Tree guides a disabled man taking shaky steps, saying in
a gentle feminine voice, “right, left, well done!”
Robots
have the run of Tokyo’s Shin-tomi nursing home, which uses 20 different models
to care for its residents. The Japanese government hopes it will be a model for
harnessing the country’s robotics expertise to help cope with a swelling
elderly population and dwindling workforce.
Allowing
robots to help care for the elderly - a job typically seen as requiring a human
touch - may be a jarring idea in the West. But many Japanese see them
positively, largely because they are depicted in popular media as friendly and
helpful. (Click reut.rs/2IVPNAd to see a picture package about these elder care
robots.)
“These
robots are wonderful,” said 84-year-old Kazuko Yamada after the exercise
session with SoftBank Robotics Corp’s Pepper, which can carry on scripted
dialogues. “More people live alone these days, and a robot can be a
conversation partner for them. It will make life more fun.”
Plenty
of obstacles may hinder a rapid proliferation of elder care robots: high costs,
safety issues and doubts about how useful - and user-friendly - they will be.
The
Japanese government has been funding development of elder care robots to help
fill a projected shortfall of 380,000 specialized workers by 2025.
Despite
steps by Japan to allow foreign workers in for elder care, obstacles to
employment in the sector, including exams in Japanese, remain. As of the end of
2017, only 18 foreigners held nursing care visas, a new category created in
2016.
But
authorities and companies here are also eyeing a larger prize: a potentially
lucrative export industry supplying robots to places such as Germany, China and
Italy, which face similar demographic challenges now or in the near future.
“It’s
an opportunity for us,” said Atsushi Yasuda, director of the robotic policy
office at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI. “Other countries
will follow the same trend.”
More
than 100 foreign groups have visited Shin-tomi the past year from countries
including China, South Korea and the Netherlands.
A
few products are trickling out as exports: Panasonic Corp has started shipping
its robotic bed, which transforms into a wheelchair, to Taiwan. Paro is used as
a “therapy animal” in about 400 Danish senior homes.
STILL
TINY
The
global market for nursing care and disabled aid robots, made up of mostly
Japanese manufacturers, is still tiny: just $19.2 million in 2016, according to
the International Federation of Robotics.
But
METI estimates the domestic industry alone will grow to 400 billion yen ($3.8
billion) by 2035, when a third of Japan’s population will be 65 or older.
“It’s
potentially a huge market,” said George Leeson, director of the Oxford
Institute of Population Ageing. “Everyone is waking up to their aging
populations. Clearly robotics is part of that package to address those needs.”
To
nurture the industry, the government is using a two-pronged approach. METI is
promoting development, providing 4.7 billion yen ($45 million) in subsidies
since 2015.
The
labor ministry is spearheading the spread of robots, and spent 5.2 billion yen
($50 million) to introduce them into 5,000 facilities nationwide in the year
that ended last March. There is no government data about how many care
facilities use robots.
Government
officials stress that robots will not replace human caregivers.
“They
can assist with power, mobility and monitoring. They can’t replace humans, but
they can save time and labor,” said METI’s Yasuda. “If workers have more time,
they can do other tasks.”
THAT’S
A ROBOT?
Most
of the devices look nothing like the popular image of a robot. By the
government’s definition, each has three components - sensors, a processor and a
motor or apparatus.
Panasonic
used government aid to develop Resyone, a bed that splits in two, with one half
transforming into a wheelchair.
Cyberdyne
Inc’s HAL - short for Hybrid Assistive Limb - lumbar type is a powered back
support that helps caregivers lift people.
Those
needing walking rehabilitation can grab hold of Tree, made by unlisted Reif Co,
which crawls along the ground, showing where to place the next step and
offering balance support.
SoftBank’s
Pepper is used in about 500 Japanese elder care homes for games, exercise
routines and rudimentary conversations.
But
some workers find Pepper difficult to set up, said Shohei Fujiwara, a manager
at SoftBank Robotics, a unit of Internet conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp.
They’d like Pepper to respond to voice commands and move around independently -
functions that SoftBank hopes to introduce this year, he said.
A
COSTLY SOLUTION
Cute,
furry and responsive, Paro reacts to touch, speech and light by moving its
head, blinking its eyes and playing recordings of Canadian harp seal cries.
“When
I first petted it, it moved in such a cute way. It really seemed like it was
alive,” giggled 79-year-old Saki Sakamoto, a Shin-tomi resident. “Once I
touched it, I couldn’t let go.”
Paro
took more than 10 years to develop and received about $20 million in government
support, said its inventor, Takanori Shibata, chief research scientist at the
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. About 5,000
are in use globally, including 3,000 in Japan.
But
Paro, like most robots, is expensive: 400,000 yen ($3,800) in Japan and about
5,000 euros in Europe. Panasonic’s Resyone bed costs 900,000 yen ($8,600) and
Cyberdyne’s HAL lumbar exoskeleton costs 100,000 yen ($950) a month to rent.
Most
facilities using them, including Shin-tomi, have relied on local and central
government subsidies to help cover the costs. Individuals can also use nursing
care insurance to help cover approved products, but those numbers are tiny.
And
so far, the robots have not reduced Shin-tomi’s personnel costs or working
hours.
“We
haven’t gotten that far yet,” said Kimiya Ishikawa, president and CEO of
Silverwing Social Welfare Corp, which runs Shin-tomi. “We brought them in
mostly to improve the working environment, keep staffers from getting back
injuries and make things safer.”
What
they have done, he said, is boost the morale of both staff and residents.
“That’s
brought a peace of mind among the staff and the residents feel supported,” he
said.
Reporting
and writing by Malcolm Foster; Editing by Gerry Doyle
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