Individuals with Intellectual disability face numerous barriers to cancer education, awareness and screening, including communication challenges, anxiety, and a lack of accessible educational resources. Traditional methods often fail to meet their unique learning needs, contributing to lower screening rates , delayed diagnoses and poorer outcomes..
Socially assistive robots, have demonstrated effectiveness in delivering interactive, engaging, and tailored education, helping individuals with cognitive impairments better understand medical procedures and the importance of preventive care.
The study investigators propose to conduct a pilot single arm clinical trial with a semi humanoid robot to deliver cancer awareness education to adults with intellectual disability attending a disability day service in Ireland .The semi humanoid robot will be programmed to engage in 2 way communication about the cancer related educational content that is uploaded on its system.
.Approximately 25 adults with ID will receive the robot led educational intervention addressing both breast and colorectal cancer awareness and screening. This a pragmatic pilot study to inform a future larger controlled clinical trial Our overall objective is to Improve breast and colorectal cancer awareness knowledge level among adults with ID receiving a robot-delivered education intervention
Adults (≥18 years) with an intellectual disability requiring any level of support needs.
Able to provide informed consent, or where capacity is limited, able to assent with decision support in line
Attending the disability service day center.
Sufficient receptive/expressive communication (with supports) to participate in interactive sessions
None
National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland
Lead sponsor
Brothers of Charity Services Galway Ireland
Collaborator
University College Hospital Galway
Collaborator