Robotic Harp Seals Improve Quality of Life of Dementia Sufferers: Study

Dementia is a life altering disease where one suffers from memory loss and it is an irreversible condition. There is no proper cure for this medical problem that seems to be on a rise. But a new study offers hope to people with mid-to-late stage dementia.

According to the new finding conducted by a team of international researchers, people with mid-to-late stage dementia were found to be less anxious when interacting with a therapeutic robot companion. Apart from this they also noticed a positive influence on their quality of life.

The study titled, 'Exploring the Effect of Companion Robots on Emotional Expression in Older Adults with Dementia', was led by Professor Wendy Moyle from Griffith University, Australia, in collaboration with Northumbria University's Professor Glenda Cook and researchers from institutions in Germany.

For this study, researchers examined the response of dementia patients when they interacted with PARO; a robotic harp seal as opposed to participating in a reading group.

Paro is fitted with artificial intelligence and tactile sensors that can recognize touch and sound and can show emotions such as happiness, surprise and anger and even recognize oft repeated words.

In this study, 18 people from a care home in  Queensland, Australia, participated in activities for 5 weeks that included PARO.  They also participated in control reading group activity for the same period. With the help of clinical dementia measurements, the researchers assessed the impact of activities and how it influenced the participants' quality of life, their level of apathy, tendency to wander and levels of depression and anxiety.

They noticed that PARO offered a positive, clinically meaningful influence on the quality of life of the participants. The levels of anxiety dropped. Earlier, several studies have shown how older adults benefit from interacting with animals. Their social behavior and verbal communication improves and they also report being less lonely.

But animals in residential settings may pose a risk to the patients and expose them to injuries and infections.

Professor Cook said in a press statement, "Our study provides important preliminary support for the idea that robots may present a supplement to activities currently in use and could enhance the life of older adults as therapeutic companions and, in particular, for those with moderate or severe cognitive impairment."

According to this study, PARO companions extract a similar response and are well suited for a residential setting to lower the symptoms of aggression, loneliness, agitation and isolation associated with dementia.

He continues to say, "There is a need for further research, with a larger sample size, and an argument for investing in interventions such as PARO robots which may reduce dementia-related behavior that make the provision of care challenging as well as costly due to increased use of staff resources and pharmaceutical treatment."

The study was published in the Journal of Gerontological Nursing.