Robotic companion for diabetic children

Abstract

This work describes the requirements that a robotic companion should have in order to properly provide support to diabetic children, in a hospital department. The paper will briefly introduce all the different needs that a diabetic child might have, and the difficulties she faces in the discovery and management of the disease. Starting from literature both on Animal Assisted Therapies (AAT) and robotic companions, the paper will try to outline which are the possible objectives of a "robot assisted therapy" for young diabetic patients, where the robot should aim at reducing child's stress and anxiety, help to improve her response to medical treatments, improve her self-efficacy, and motivate her to do physical activity. The paper will then continue presenting the requirements derived from these objectives.