Woof, Woof! Robotic Pets Boost Senior Well-Being

They might not be the cuddliest creatures, but robotic pets may be one answer to the loneliness epidemic in older adults.

Companion robotic pets reduced depression, anxiety, and loneliness in women aged over 65 years living in communities, according to a study presented at the Gerontological Society of America 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting.

“Interaction with this pet brought happiness and made the participants feel special, like they have been selected for an award,” said Suk-Young Kang, PhD, the lead researcher of the study and an associate professor at Binghamton University in New York. “Anecdotally, I found that many older adults cannot care for real pets, so I thought this robotic pet could be an alternative.”

Kang worked with the Broome County Office for Aging in New York to recruit patients for the study, in which 45 people with symptoms of depression received a robotic cat or dog during a home visit.

Kang and his colleagues conducted follow-up visits with the patients 1 month later, analyzing changes in their mental health and physical well-being.

The mean baseline score for depression was 9.16 on a 15-point scale, which dropped to 5.29 at the 1-month mark. The mean anxiety score at baseline was 13.18, which fell to 7.33.

Loneliness fell from 4.31 at baseline to 3.13 at the 1-month follow-up. Self-rated physical health rose from 1.44 at baseline to 1.73 during the study period.

The findings may have been affected by selection bias, as some people who might have wanted a robot pet may not have been comfortable receiving a home visit, Kang said.

“I wish to reach people who really feel lonely because in the process of conducting this study, many participants told me of others they knew who needed it, but they were not comfortable meeting with me,” Kang said. “We don’t know where they are, we don’t know because they are really isolated. They don’t want to talk with anybody else.”

Kang said the robots they used were not mobile but reacted via sensors to touch and movement and mimicked the sounds of live animals.

“I don’t see robots as a replacement for human interaction at all, but they do provide a unique form of support,” Kang said. “Technology is good, but human interaction cannot be replaced. Human interaction is still needed.”

Melissa Harris-Gersten, PhD, RN, who conducted a similar study of veterans with dementia in 2023, said she observed comparable benefits in her research.

“There’s nothing that lights up and engages people living with dementia quite like these robotic pets besides music,” Harris-Gersten, a research health scientist at the Durham VA Health Care System, said.

The pets create an opportunity for patients to socialize and engage with other people, Harris-Gersten said.

Wei Qi Koh, PhD, an occupational therapist at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, who also conducted a study of older adults and people with dementia, said robot pets are not for all older adults because individual needs vary greatly.

“For example, it [pet robots] has led to some form of distress from people becoming attached to the robot, or jealousy” when shared among residents in a communal living environment,” Koh said. “With the technology being developed, there is more that needs to be in place to guide the ethical use of pet robots, particularly with the vulnerable population.”

Some ethicists argue robot pets are infantilizing or deceptive for people who might not be able to discern a robot from a real animal because of cognitive issues, Koh said.

“I believe that ethical guidance should be pragmatic: For example, should pet robots be introduced as a ‘robot’ for someone who is happy to see the pet robot or as a real animal or a companion? What do end users prefer?” Koh said.

No disclosures were reported.