Study the benefits of pet robot in treating dementia

The idea for patients with dementia to play with pet-friendly physicians instead of treating them with medications may seem a bit unusual, but experts say this could be the premise of opening up new therapies for Dementia patients in the future.

According to Professor Wendy Moyle of Griffith University in Australia, the number of patients with dementia will double in the next 20 years, so finding new treatments is very important. In order to realize this idea, Queensland government scientists funded over $ 1 million to conduct the world's largest study of the effects of animal robots on people with dementia.

Professor Moyle said that during the period 2009-2010, sedation dollars for mental retardation patients at the nursing homes were estimated at $ 19 million, while the side effects of the drugs were quite high, Makes the patient easy to fall (due to dizziness) or to a more serious confusion. The use of animal psychotherapy can be good for the patient, but is not commonplace by treatment facilities for the elderly who do not raise animals. The reason is that pets can attack the person, while the cost of feeding and caring for them is quite expensive. So, robot pet is considered the most convenient option.

The experiment will be used by Australian scientists PARO - a seagull-shaped robot with soft and smooth feathers - has been shown to have positive effects in patients with dementia in a Pilot study last year. PARO is the invention of Professor Takanori Shibata of the Advanced Institute of Science and Technology of Japan (AIST). "We found it helped mild-to-severe dementia patients control excessive behavior as well as anxiety and improve quality of life and bring joy to them , " said Shibata. . Each pair of PARO seals, weighing 2.7 kg, have different faces and can identify their names as well as express emotions such as surprise, happiness and anger.

Professor Moyle said that until now, patients still have positive expression with the robot PARO . "We noticed that people who did not talk for a few years started communicating again using PARO, which is a very interesting result , " she said. It is reported that 30 nursing home and 380 dementia patients will be randomized to participate in a large-scale trial starting next year.