Robot trial in Northwest hospital settings in a UK first!

Songbirds Music UK has received a prestigious award from Innovate UK to trial a robot for use in their music interaction projects in paediatric hospitals with hospitalised children and their families.

Songbirds Music UK delivers high-quality music projects and training in health, disability, and community settings for children, young people, and families affected by medical conditions, hospitalisation, and disability in the Northwest, and will trial the use of a telepresence robot as an interface for delivering enhanced remote live musical interaction sessions.

The robot is being piloted at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital and in the Nursing Simulation Suite at the University of Chester, in partnership with Philip Barker Centre for Creative Learning. The pilot will use music as a vehicle to innovate new knowledge for healthcare professionals and nursing students in using computerised devices to interact and communicate with patients at increased risk of isolation due to debilitating illness, limited communication, immuno-suppression, and COVID-19 restrictions.

Songbirds Music UK hopes that in future practice this will enable specialist health musicians to access those child patients who have previously been unable to experience music sessions due to infection control protocols in highly sensitive departments and work more closely with hospital staff to increase communication opportunities for patients with complex needs.

The robot is the first of its kind to be used for remote musical interaction in hospital settings in the UK, and the team hopes with a successful trial, the project will be rolled out across NHS trusts across the UK

 Dr Rosalind Hawley and Mark Fisher, Co-founders of Songbirds Music UK said,

 “We are passionate about using our music to improve patient experiences of hospitalisation. Bedside musical interactions can support children and families whilst in hospital, assist in dealing with the acoustic and sensory challenges of a hospital environment, and create a more inclusive patient-centred healthcare space where all patients, regardless of the complexity of their healthcare needs or disability, can make choices in the ways they want to communicate and interact. Funding from Innovate UK will enable us to explore the benefits of using new, previously unused technologies in our work, and create innovative Covid- responsive models of bedside musical interaction to improve communication opportunities for all children and young people in hospital.”

The trial began in October 2021 and is set to last for six months.

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