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In recent years, social assistive robots have gained significant acceptance in healthcare settings, particularly for tasks such as patient care and monitoring. This paper offers a comprehensive overview of the expressive humanoid robot, Qhali, with a focus on its industrial design, essential components, and validation in a controlled environment. The industrial design phase encompasses research, ideation, design, manufacturing, and implementation. Subsequently, the mechatronic system is detailed, covering sensing, actuation, control, energy, and software interface. Qhali's capabilities include autonomous execution of routines for mental health promotion and psychological testing. The software platform enables therapist-directed interventions, allowing the robot to convey emotional gestures through joint and head movements and simulate various facial expressions for more engaging interactions. Finally, with the robot fully operational, an initial behavioral experiment was conducted to validate Qhali's capability to deliver telepsychological interventions. The findings from this preliminary study indicate that participants reported enhancements in their emotional well-being, along with positive outcomes in their perception of the psychological intervention conducted with the humanoid robot. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsDiscussionThree meta-analyses suggested that the psychological assessment as a therapeutic intervention approach might have therapeutic effects but had unspecific inclusion criteria.We searched four databases for RCTs that reported on the use of psychological assessment as an intervention. Two reviewers independently selected papers, extracted data, and assessed study quality.We conducted and reported the systematic review following the PRISMA statement. We assessed the Risk of bias in included studies using the Risk of Bias tool and graded the strength of the evidence with GRADE.We included two RCTs: The first study investigated Therapeutic Assessment (TA) combined with Manual-Assisted Cognitive Behavior Therapy (MACT) compared with MACT only in 16 outpatients with personality disorders. The trial found among completers (n = 7) no difference in borderline symptomatology but a possible difference regarding suicidality favoring MACT + TA. The trial did not provide any outcomes relating to readiness for treatment. The other trial investigated TA compared with a Goal-focused Pretreatment Intervention in a sample of 74 outpatients with personality disorders. The results found no intervention effects on symptomatology but suggested that TA might improve patient expectancy for future treatment among completers of the intervention. Both trials were judged at a high risk of bias and with very low certainty of evidence.We found no support for the clinical effect of psychological assessment as a therapeutic intervention due to the high risk of bias and low certainty of the evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing need for mental health support and a shortage of therapists have led to the development of the eXtended-reality Artificial Intelligence Assistant (XAIA). This platform combines spatial computing, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide immersive mental health support. Utilizing GPT-4 for AI-driven therapy, XAIA engaged participants with mild-to-moderate anxiety or depression in biophilic VR environments. Speaking with an AI therapy avatar in VR was considered acceptable, helpful, and safe, with participants observed to engage genuinely with the program. However, some still favored human interaction and identified shortcomings with using a digital VR therapist. The study provides initial evidence of the acceptability and safety of AI psychotherapy via spatial computing, warranting further research on technical enhancements and clinical impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-actualization is a complex psychological construct within Maslow's motivation theory, characterized by numerous gaps in the empirical and measurement spectrums. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to develop, validate, and cross-verify measures for self-actualization attributes and B-values, focusing on job context and theoretical congruence with innovative behavior and human values related to the self-actualization construct (suprapersonal subfunction). This study involved a diverse sample of 621 Brazilian participants from 25 different professions, indicating the broad applicability of the findings. The proposed instruments underwent content and semantic validity assessments, followed by verification of factor validity and internal consistency. Results showed satisfactory content, semantic and factor validity and internal consistency parameters. The study reveals that self-actualization attributes can be understood through achieving one's own potential and work meta-motivation, consistent with the adoption of B-values. Relationships with suprapersonal values (maturity, knowledge, and beauty) and innovative work behavior were also demonstrated, suggesting convergent validity evidence. The validation of SAAS and BVI contributes to understanding self-actualization and B-values in varied Brazilian contexts, offering insights for psychological assessment and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Epilepsy is a chronic condition with numerous social and psychological consequences. There are numerous psychological and social factors associated with epilepsy, such as anxiety, depression, and stigma. These factors are prone to have poorer self-esteem, leading to lower quality of life (QOL). Purpose: The purpose of the current review was to identify the evidence on the effectiveness of psychosocial treatment programs in epilepsy aimed at enhancing the overall QOL in people with epilepsy. Methods: Various online databases such as Medline, PubMed, Science Direct, Wiley online library, and Google Scholar were searched to obtain the literature using appropriate search terms/keywords. A total of 68 articles with full texts were reviewed, of which 12 articles (11 randomized studies and 1 nonrandomized study) met the criteria and were included in the meta-analysis with a total sample size of 1712 participants. The methodological quality of the randomized studies was assessed by using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool. Results: Various psychosocial treatment programs significantly improved the QOL, self-management, and drug adherence and reduced stigma among persons with epilepsy. However, there was no evidence for effects on epilepsy self-efficacy, depression, anxiety, knowledge, and seizure frequency among persons with epilepsy. Conclusion: Planned psychosocial treatment programs showed significantly important benefit on a number of outcomes but found limited evidence in reducing anxiety, depression, seizure frequency, and improving knowledge among persons with epilepsy. Thus further research is needed to target those specific outcomes. Psychosocial treatment programs must be incorporated by all health-care personnel as an integral part of epilepsy care to promote patients' optimum well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]