By Colin McGregor
Are today’s new robo-pets keeping seniors alive longer?
Cuteness is healing. Even if it’s a furry robot toy in the form of a beloved family pet giving you the love and affection you need as an isolated senior citizen.
Robotic pets might seem like something out of a science fiction movie, but they’re here to stay.
A study appearing in the Oxford University Press Journals of Gerontology concluded that robotic pets may be an effective solution for alleviating loneliness in older adults, especially among those who live alone, have fewer social connections, and live less active lifestyles. According to many studies, loneliness can kill.
Loneliness is generally understood as the gap between your preferred and actual level of social contact (Peplau, 1982). In other words, you feel lonely if you don’t have contact with as many people or animals as you’d like to have. And among people older than 60 years, loneliness is a subjective predictor of functional decline and death.
Feeling Alone
In the United States, one-third of adults aged 45 and older report experiencing loneliness, with the total number expected to increase with the growing population of older adults (Anderson and Thayer, 2018). And among adults older than 60, loneliness is a predictor of declining health and death (Perissinotto et al., 2012) and adversely influences mental and physical health outcomes, including depression, quality of life, health utilization, and mortality rates (Cacioppo et al., 2006; Luo et al., 2012; Musich et al., 2015).
Pet owners, studies show, feel less lonely than those without pets. But pets cost money, and you have to fed them and clean up after them when they leave a mess. Moreover, you can’t leave them alone for days or weeks at a time. Having a pet is an everyday job.
Robotic pets have several interactive features. Sensors respond to touching and activate a nuzzling effect. These dogs (generally, puppies) and cats react to light, barking or purring when light enters the room. These pets yawn, blink their eyes, wag their tails and even have a heartbeat you can feel. Engineers have made these robots react as closely to a real pet as possible, and they are constantly improving their products.
The 2020 Journals of Gerontology study, led by Janella Hudson, PhD of Ann Arbor, Michigan, (“Robotic Pet Use Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults”) showed that: “Most participants reported feeling a sense of calm or comfort as a result of holding, hugging, and affectionately interacting with their pet.” Moreover, “many described an improvement in their mood, and in some cases, increased happiness after interacting with their pet.”
Beating Shyness
Most study participants showed their robopet off to family and friends. Indeed, shy people not at ease with meeting people used their robopet to forge links with people in ways they would not have had the courage to in the past.
The newest editions of these pets are capable of learning, of adding reactions to their repertoire as you play with them. And many puppies and cats are programmable. Young children love these toys as well, according to reviews on Amazon.com. “I bought the dog as a Christmas gift for my friend’s grandson who is three. He opened it today and loved it, but I think I loved it more!” writes LaVelle King of the United States.
One ethical question raised is that a robopet may be mistaken for a real pet by dementia patients. Another is that it may replace human-to-human interactions. But as for that’s second objection, it seems that rather than hindering interpersonal relations, the robopets actually open shy people up to the world, studies show.
The puppy pictured above is made under the Joy For All brand and retails online for $177 U.S. You can spend upwards of a thousand dollars or more for your robopet if you want. What price is your health and mental well-being worth?
Leave a Reply