Background: Child life specialists (CLSs) play an important role in supporting patients and their families during their visits to a children’s hospital. Although CLSs are equipped with considerable expertise to support families during some of the most difficult moments of their lives, we introduced an additional resource to them in the form of a humanoid robot named MEDi. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the experiences of CLSs using a robot to support children. Methods: We interviewed 7 CLSs who had worked with this robot for several years. The transcribed interviews were analyzed using open and axial coding. Results: The first main theme that emerged was the process of navigating from fear to friendship in learning to use a humanoid robot for therapeutic support. The second major theme was MEDi as a source of connection and support to children. CLSs’ perceptions of MEDi as an adaptable resource and working with the limits of MEDi constituted the last 2 themes. Conclusions: These descriptions show how CLSs can incorporate a robot into their practice.

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中文翻译：

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多年在儿科医院中使用人形机器人工作的儿童生命专家的观点：叙事设计

背景：儿童生活专家（CLS）在支持患者及其家人访问儿童医院期间发挥着重要作用。尽管CLS拥有丰富的专业知识，可以在家庭生活中最艰难的时刻为其提供支持，但我们还是以名为MEDi的类人机器人为形式向他们介绍了额外的资源。目的：本研究的目的是探索使用机器人支持儿童的CLS体验。方法：我们采访了使用该机器人已有多年经验的7名CLS。使用开放式和轴向编码对转录访谈进行分析。结果：出现的第一个主要主题是在学习使用人形机器人获得治疗支持时从恐惧转为友谊的过程。第二个主要主题是MEDi，作为对儿童的联系和支持的来源。CLS认为MEDi是一种可适应的资源，并在MEDi的极限范围内工作构成了最后两个主题。结论：这些描述说明了CLS如何将机器人纳入其实践。

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