Infection control checklist for therapy robots
A 10 point checklist for the infection control review of a PARO or companion robot, built on the maker's instructions and your facility's own policy.
A therapy robot is held, stroked and passed between people, often in a unit where residents or patients are vulnerable to infection. Before the first session, your infection prevention and control lead needs to approve how it will be cleaned and managed. This page lists the questions to settle. It does not set a cleaning method.
Who decides how the robot is cleaned?
Two documents decide it: the maker’s written cleaning instructions for that product, and your facility’s infection control policy. Where they differ, your infection control lead decides how to reconcile them. Using a cleaning product the maker does not approve can damage the unit and may affect the warranty, so check with the distributor before changing anything.
What should you get from the supplier?
- The maker’s written cleaning and care instructions for the exact model you are buying.
- The cleaning products the maker approves, and any it says to avoid.
- Whether any cover, fur or part can be removed, replaced or sent for cleaning.
- How the warranty treats damage from cleaning.
- How a unit is repaired, and how it should be cleaned before it is sent away.
What should your policy cover?
- Who cleans the robot, when, and where that is recorded.
- How the robot is managed during an infectious outbreak in the unit.
- Whether one unit is shared between people or kept for one person, and when that changes.
- What your hand hygiene policy expects around each session, for staff and for the person using the robot.
- Where the robot is stored and charged between sessions, away from contaminated areas.
How does this fit the purchase?
Raise these questions with the distributor at the quote stage. In a hospital, infection control sign-off can take longer than procurement, so starting early avoids a unit sitting in its box. The hospital and palliative care page covers the wider buying process, and the PARO buying page lists the other questions to put to a distributor.
When residents become attached
Where a person treats the robot as their own, a shared unit becomes harder to manage. Some units then consider a personal item for that resident. Record the decision in the care plan so every shift follows it.