MiCare Works With Lamson To Implement World’s First Person-Centred Robotic Aged Care Environment
With workforce pressures in the age services industry, there has never been a greater need for innovation to improve efficiencies and productivity. If the industry could remove menial tasks not directly care-based and automate them to improve the lives of residents, this would allow staff to spend more time with residents and deliver better care.
In 2016, Lamson identified that aged care workers were manually moving meals, laundry, waste and supplies, taking staff away from face-to-face resident care. Lamson worked with almost 40 providers and found that aged care facilities lose up to 20 hrs per day moving trolleys.
The automated trolley solution
Lamson knew that if aged care trolley transportation were automated, staff could focus on the core business of caring for residents. Lamson together with Prins Willem Alexandra Village (MiCare) became the first in the world to design and create a person-centred robotic system for the aged care environment. This system was tested with residents, families and staff.
The new approach transformed operations and impacted future building design, improving service productivity for the industry and giving staff the tools they need to do what they do best─care.
The MiCare pilot
- Robots were commissioned in 2018 at Prins Willem Alexandra Village with the following outcomes:
- Staff stay in work areas improving resident safety/supervision
- Staff have more time to deliver care
- Laser guidance reduced risk of trolleys colliding with residents, reducing risk of injury
- Reduced staff shoulder and back injuries
- New business model, a catalyst for process changes and consumer-centric service delivery
- Kitchen staff improved meal quality
- The laundry team enhanced services and optimised processes
- Removed distractions and wasted staff time waiting for trolleys
- Reduced size and noise of trolleys
- Eradicated damage to walls
- Robot laser guidance reduced the risk of infection, fewer touch points
A vision for better care
Lamson’s vision was to remove the manual handling of trolleys and transform operations in the aged care industry by using robots, freeing up staff to do what they do best ─ provide high levels of service and care to their residents. Today, Lamson is the first in the world to create automated trolley solutions specifically for aged care facilities.
The new business model for aged care that Lamson proposed focused on keeping staff in their location of work, without having to leave for supplies or leave their area to deliver supplies. Movement of staff around the facility was a key driver of the initiative.
Organisations that use them have noted that robots deliver significant business benefits by supporting the future aged care workforce in metro/ regional communities and supporting the ageing workforce. Post installation, resident safety and supervision levels increased at sites using the system and there is anecdotal evidence of reduced staff injuries.
Innovation flow-on
Following the first installation at Prins Willem Alexandra Village, design and future building projects also became the focus. MiCare and Lamson worked together to create efficient design specifications for future builds. These specifications are now used by architects and designers across Australia to relocate supplies and design service delivery areas to remove inefficiencies and accommodate robot movements.
There is no doubt automation of trolleys is just one of many innovative ways to enable a more consumer-centric service, and help find the elusive balance between consumer care and operational efficiencies.
For more information, please visit www.lamson.com.au or email us on robots@lamson.com.au