Therapeutic Use of PARO Robotic Seal with Patients diagnosed with Dementia in Acute Care Settings
Topic of Interest
Patient Populations
Abstract
Dementia is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes progressive cognitive decline and non-cognitive changes in behavior and social functioning. Dementia affects about 46.8 million people worldwide, and is estimated to triple by 2050 (Liang, Piroth, Robinson, MacDonald, Fisher, Nater, Skoluda, & Broadbent, 2017). Animal assisted therapy has been used since 2009 when caring for dementia patients, but due to the potential of allergies, injury, and fear of the animal, the use of this method brings concern. Consequently, robotic pet therapy is a viable substitute for animal therapy (Petersen, Houston, Qin, Tague, & Studley, 2016). The PARO robotic seal is an interactive, therapeutic robotic device that is designed to improve the mood, communication, behavior, and psychological symptoms of individuals with dementia (Dodds, Martyn, & Brown, 2018 and Shibata & Coughlin, 2014). This proposal will discuss the role of the Clinical Nurse Specialist as a researcher in relation to the use of robotic pet therapy and the level of anxiety of patients with a diagnosis of dementia in an acute care setting and fall rates.