Robot Pets Lead the Charge to Battling Dementia Patient Loneliness

CBS 4 News reports that Florida senior care communities have deployed robot pets to offer lonely dementia patients companionship. The available robot pets include a cat and a dog, which respond to affection. The more people pet and talk to them, the more responses they induce, like tail-wagging in the case of the artificial puppy. One hundred robot pets were covered by a state grant and are available at many long-term care communities in North-Central Florida. Wendy Crews, the Community Relations Representative for Community Hospice and Palliative Care, said her organization has been using robot pets as therapy for residents who cannot go outside and lack steady access to family visits. "This is a great companion for anybody who is alone who doesn't have the ability to feed or clean up after a real pet," she noted.