An issue of growing concern in the United States is the prevalence of sexual violence for women on college campuses, where up to one in four women report experiencing an attempted or completed rape while a student. It is important for these women to obtain therapeutic counseling to help them cope with the aftermath of these traumatic events. Research indicates that traditional therapy is beneficial in some instances, and additional benefits have been discovered with the use of animal-assisted therapy (AAT); however, there are limitations to AAT (e.g., training costs, availability, phobias, and allergies).
In this project the PI will explore an alternative called the Therabot, a lightweight socially assistive robotic support system. The goal is to design, implement and evaluate the efficacy of a prototype, which will improve upon the benefits discovered with AAT. To this end, the Therabot will have the appearance of a stuffed animal/toy and will exhibit affective behaviors (including head and arm movements, and animal-like or rhythmic sounds), to provide comfort and support during therapeutic interventions for the trauma associated with sexual violence. It will be convenient and easy for patients to use, not only in the clinic or lab but also in the home to provide support and encourage home therapy practices, something which is not offered by current forms of supplemental therapy support such as therapy animals.
This preliminary research will have three phases: design and construction of the Therabot system; validation that the system works as intended with human participants; and field testing with patients at the Department of Outreach and Sexual Assault Services at the PI's institution. Three hypotheses will be evaluated as part of this exploratory research: that patients who use the Therabot in counseling will be more likely to communicate with the therapist, and will feel more supported and comfortable during counseling, compared to patients who do not use the Therabot or who use an identical-looking but non-robotic Therabot in counseling; that patients will be more likely to perform home therapy practice using the Therabot than patients who do not use the Therabot or who use an identical non-robotic Therabot in home therapy practice; and that patients using the Therabot will experience improved therapeutic outcomes compared to those who are not using the Therabot or who use an identical non-robotic Therabot.
Broader Impacts: If the PI's hypotheses are supported, this research will not only impact survivors of sexual violence but will also be applicable to other therapeutic situations such as soldiers returning from the battlefield with PTSD and survivors of natural and man-made disasters. The PI expects that a lightweight socially assistive technology system like the Therabot will provide beneficial support and companionship to patients in hospitals, hospice facilities, and long-term care environments. It will be easy to incorporate the Therabot into the curricula of both undergraduate and graduate computer science, mechanical engineering, and clinical psychology courses, and also to use it for class projects. The many expected practical applications and potential societal impacts of the Therabot will make it a tremendous resource for K-12 outreach activities whose goal is to encourage interest in science and technology careers.
