Artificial intelligence and robotics improve people’s well-being – the Well-being and Health Sector AiRo Programme speeds up implementation
Robots and artificial intelligence help people live healthy lives, recover from illnesses, live independently and safely in their own home and recover their functional and working capacity quickly through rehabilitation.
“The utilisation of robots and artificial intelligence curbs the rise of health and social services costs and will help ensure the high-quality services. The development of services will require co-operation between various actors, and, for this reason, we have built a concrete network for these actors,” explains Senior Specialist Jukka Lähesmaa from the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
The Hyteairo Programme is the Well-Being and Health Sector Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Programme headed by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. The key themes selected for the programme include living at home, care and logistics in the hospital environment, pharmacotherapy and pharmaceutical service, as well as well-being coaching and rehabilitation.
“To join the programme, all you need to do is sign up. Those actors that have signed up as participants will be able to take part in preparation and will be invited to events. The list already includes nearly 100 people and 50 organisations,” Lähesmaa states enthusiastically. The network is maintained by expert of robotics Cristina Andersson.
Next in line is an evaluation workshop to determine the national maturity level of well-being and health sector robotics and artificial intelligence, during which participants will evaluate, for example, the co-operation skills of Finnish actors and how efficient the export of services and solutions is. The critical evaluation of competence is essential.
“Finland is a world leader in certain areas, but we still have room for improvement. Evaluation helps in the correct targeting of activities,” Lähesmaa emphasises.
The health and social services reform is also closely related to the programme. The programme offers, for example, an artificial intelligence and robotics training packages for health and social services change managers.
Assistance for professionals
“The opportunities offered by robotics and artificial intelligence help professionals provide better service and care as well as frees up time for professionals to meet with people,” emphasises Katrina Harjuhahto-Madetoja CEO of Eteva kuntayhtymä. She is also a member of the well-being and health AiRo advisory group and participates in workshops.
Eteva kuntayhtymä, a joint municipal authority, is Finland’s largest centre of excellence in services for the disabled. Eteva provides services to around 1,600 people each year, and its owners include 45 municipalities in southern Finland.
“We at Eteva are launching several of our own robotics projects. We will begin from enhanced administration and the transfer of routine work to a digital colleague. In this way, we will make more time for work with customers and work carried out by experts. In June, we held our own robotics workshop, and participants came up with an abundance of development ideas,” says Harjuhahto-Madetoja.
Join us!
Jukka Lähesmaa hopes to see actors from many different sectors take part extensively in the Wellbeing and Health AiRo project. The advisory group will meet once again this autumn, and a large opening seminar is also being planned.
The programme will be showcased at the beginning of October in Madrid at IROS 2018 (International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems).
Read our new brochure to learn about the Well-being and Health Sector AiRo Programme in its entirety: Well-being and Health Sector AiRo brochure (in finnish)
Inquiries
- Jukka Lähesmaa, Senior Specialist, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, tel. +358 (0)295 163139
- Katrina Harjuhahto-Madetoja, DEO, Eteva kuntayhtymä, tel. +358 (0)40 304 7001
- Cristina Andersson, Develor Oy,Develor Oy, [email protected], tel. +358 (0)400 633 190 (signing up to the network)
- Well-being and Health Sector AiRo brochure (in finnish)
- Well-being and Health Sector AiRo Programme (www.stm.fi)
- Well-being and Health Sector AiRo-related workshops