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Sooooo, a robot gives a cookie. 🍪 🎥 Next to Bazooka gum, it's one of T’s favorite foods (she craves them so much, the Cookie Monster might be her distant cousin). Now, T had never met Stretch, let alone a robot. Like meeting a new person, building rapport is key to building connection, common ground, and understanding. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐭?! 🤯 🫱🏻🫲🏼 I first got to know T and the staff at Our Place Social Day Center. 𝐈𝐧 𝐎𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞. It’s all about ‘𝑌𝑂𝑈’, 🫵🏽 such as the person's function, limitations, habits, routines, interests, and contexts to ensure the intervention (i.e. Stretch robot) is introduced safely and meaningfully. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐓’𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐍𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥: 🔹𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝: Born deaf, T reads lips 👄 and captions. She is an older adult living with dementia. 🔹𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: Playful, a jokester, and a straight shooter. She’ll tell you if she doesn’t like something! 🔹𝐇𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬: Sits in a specific recliner chair and always keeps tissues within reach. 🔹𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬: Spends time with her friends at Our Place a few days per week, participating in engaging activities, and basking in the joys of cookies and Bazooka gum. 🔹𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Thrives on familiar routines, promoting her recall of each staff member and friend at Our Place. Patience, visual cues. 🫴🏽 🍪 🔹𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭: Wears glasses to see and uses a walker for balance. Staff noted she often asks for tissues, gum, and snacks (🍪), creating a prioritized task for Stretch to help with when staff are busy helping other friends. 𝐂🍪🍪𝐊𝐈𝐄 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓: Stretch doesn’t have a face, but Sarah (a staff member) does. It was important we introduced Stretch with a familiar face. So, we projected Sarah on a tablet mounted on Stretch to socialize with T as I remotely operated Stretch to give T a cookie. You might assume seeing a cookie in the robot’s gripper/hand is obvious. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡'𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡’𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐨 ‘𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞’ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞. 🍪 👀 And this, is A-🆗. We like knowing this. 🤔 💭 If we relied on our own assumptions, we would have missed valuable learnings on strategies and adaptations to tailor the robot to T and other people with dementia. 💡 By having individuals like T interact with robots in their natural environments, you ensure you meet the person where they’re at and adapt the technology (🤖) to their specific needs. #occupationaltherapy #robotics #carepartners #caregivers #dementia #olderadults #cookies #snacks #choice #meaningful #access #accessibility #research