The Psychosocial effects of a Companion Robot in a Residential Care Facility: A Randomised Controlled Trial

Abstract

With the increasing ageing population, a major concern for the future is how older people will be cared for, particularly in long term care facilities. When moving to a nursing home often older people experience a considerable decline in quality of life and find themselves isolated from friends and family. Often animals are used in such facilities to help make the environment more interesting and companion robots are now being developed to help meet the needs of older people. However, research with companion robots is limited because it has been conducted with small sample sizes, over a short period of time and without control groups. More research needs to be conducted to determine whether companion robots can have benefits for older people in nursing home care. The aim of this research was to determine the impact of the seal robot, Paro. This research employed a randomised control design where residents were allocated to a robot intervention group or a control group who attended alternative activities. This trial was conducted at a nursing home in Auckland, New Zealand, which had a number of other pets present including a resident dog. Participants in the study had either two sessions a week with Paro or control activities over twelve weeks. Forty residents (27 females, aged 55-100) participated in this study and 20 residents were allocated to each group. The primary outcomes were quality of life, depression and loneliness before the trial began. After the trial was completed all residents completed were assessed on their companionship to the resident dog and in the intervention group completed a measure of companionship to the seal robot and answered some open-ended questions about what they thought about the robot. Twenty-four staff were also recruited for this study (all female, aged 23-68). Staff completed a baseline questionnaire assessing health-related quality of life, job morale, job satisfaction, attitude towards Paro and mind perception of Paro. At the end of the trial they completed the same questionnaire and answered open-ended questions about the seal robot. Observations were conducted of the intervention sessions, control sessions and general activities over the period of the study. It was observed how much residents participated in intervention sessions and for all observations the amount the residents socialised with one another, staff members and how much they touched, talked to and talked about the robot and/or the resident dog were recorded. During the study blood pressure and heart rate was also measured with residents before, after the resident stroked the robot for ten minutes and five minutes after the robot was removed. Data was analysed using both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The results of this study found that in comparison to the control group residents in the intervention group had a greater decrease in loneliness from baseline to follow-up (p = .033). Systolic and diastolic blood pressure decreased after stroking the robot (systolic; p =.044; diastolic: p =.049). The robot, like the resident dog made an impact on the social environment and encouraged residents to talk to each other more (p = .05). Compared to the dog, residents talked to the robot more (p < .001), stroked the robot more (p < .001) and talked about the robot with each other more (p =.01). There were no changes in quality of life, job morale, job satisfaction and attitude toward the robot over time in staff. Qualitative analyses supported these results and gave more insight into what residents liked about the robot, how the robot and the dog affected the social environment and how residents interacted with the robot. Qualitative analyses also found that staff had positive attitudes towards the robot. Overall, it is concluded that the companion robot Paro is beneficial for people living in a nursing home in reducing loneliness and creating a more social environment. As this is the first randomised control trial to be conducted with Paro more research needs to be conducted replicating these results exploring the efficacy of this intervention. This research should try to address the shortcomings of previous research and build on this research by using randomised control trials, adequate sample sizes and be conducted over a long period of time. At present, Paro is a welcome addition to the nursing home setting from the perspective of residents and staff.