Date of Project: September- December 2015
Role: Research Assistant
Methods Used: Survey, Questionnaire
Deliverable: Project proposals, IRB forms, Survey, Questionnaire
Dr. Isabelle Bichindaritz holding a JustoCat
About The Project
This study was a comparison between “standard care” and robotic animal-assisted care for the treatment and therapy of mild to severe dementia. This project aimed to identify the positive impacts of robotic pets on care assistance and the quality of life of the residents in the aged care facility. Participants were gathered based on the severity of their dementia case and were presented with a robotic cat to look after for one week. The pet robot used in this study was JustoCat® from Robyn Robotics of Sweden.
Each patient’s caregiver was responsible for completing surveys evaluating the patient’s mental and emotional state before and after their week with the robotic cat. The cats are equipped with sensors that provided information on the patient’s breathing, how often they touched the cat, and with what amount of pressure, which can imply the emotional state of the patient (loving, angry, etc.).
The Problem
The majority of research on dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, is primarily focused on the causes and how to prevent, slow, or even reverse the condition. An increasingly important avenue of study is patient care and the development of new treatment methods. Patients with dementia can become disoriented, scared, and aggressive when in an altered state of mind and experience negative emotions as their condition progresses.
Research on animal-assisted therapy for dementia shows that the presence of an animal “reduces aggression and agitation, as well as promoting social behavior in people with dementia” (Filan & Llewellyn-Jones, 2006). As an alternative to traditional pet therapy, which can be costly, robotic pets are being used in residential aged care facilities.
Robotic pets can provide feelings of calmness for patients through the actions of petting and embracing the pet. Robotic pets also have the potential to provide the patient with a newfound sense of responsibility and purpose by caring for an animal that is a companion and reliant on them.
Data was collected through surveys to determine whether the use of robotic companions has an effect on the quality of care and life for elderly dementia patients.
My Role
For this research study, I was responsible for drafting the initial project proposal, IRB proposal forms, and script writing for test administrators presenting the pet robot to the patient, as well as the creation of the caregiver surveys, completed pre- and post-study.
At the time I worked on this project, this was only a preliminary evaluation but has since been completed by Professor Isabelle Bichindaritz of SUNY Oswego in Oswego, New York along with other colleagues. I am listed as a co-author on this project.
This research project was peer-reviewed by AMIA, the American Medical Informatics Association for publication and was presented at the AMIA 2018 Annual Symposium under the title “JustoCat Pet Robot and Patient Care: A Study of Benefits Provided to Elderly Dementia Patients, Caregivers and Health Care Providers.”