Faculty of Social and Life Sciences, Wrexham Glyndŵr University, UK.
Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology, Wrexham Glyndŵr University, UK.
Dementia (London). 2021 May;20(4):1300-1318. doi: 10.1177/1471301220932780. Epub 2020 Jul 16.
The use of robot companion pets for people in care homes has been extensively studied. The results are largely positive and suggest that they are valuable in enhancing wellbeing, communication and behavioural aspects. However, there has been little research in people's own homes, possibly due to the cost and complexity of some of the robot pets currently available. As dementia affects people in different ways, this study explores the effects of a robot cat for people in their own homes, without specifically investigating the effects on a particular symptom. We utilised a case study design to investigate the proposition that various factors influence the impact of a robot cat on the person living with dementia and their carer, including acceptability of the robot pet and acceptance of dementia and its symptoms. The qualitative analysis explores the similarities and differences within the data which were gathered during interviews with people with dementia and their families. This analysis revealed four themes: , , and These themes were synthesised into two overarching themes: , and . We present the acceptability and impact of the robot cat on symptoms of dementia, with data presented across and within the group of participants. Our analysis suggests that benefits of the robot pet were evident, and although this was a small-scale study, where they were accepted, robot pets provided positive outcomes for the participants and their families.
已经对养老院人群使用机器宠物伴侣进行了广泛研究。结果基本是积极的，表明它们在增强幸福感、促进交流和改善行为方面很有价值。然而，在人们自己的家中，这方面的研究很少，这可能是由于目前一些机器宠物的成本和复杂性。由于痴呆症会以不同的方式影响人们，因此本研究探讨了机器猫对居住在自己家中的人的影响，而没有专门调查其对特定症状的影响。我们采用案例研究设计来探究这样一种观点，即各种因素会影响机器猫对患有痴呆症的人和他们的照顾者的影响，包括机器宠物的可接受性以及对痴呆症及其症状的接受程度。定性分析探讨了在对痴呆症患者及其家属进行访谈期间收集的数据中的相似点和不同点。这一分析揭示了四个主题：、、和 这些主题被综合为两个总体主题：、和 我们展示了机器猫对痴呆症症状的可接受性和影响，研究数据在参与者群体中进行了呈现。我们的分析表明，机器宠物的好处是明显的，尽管这是一项小规模研究，但只要被接受，机器宠物就会为参与者及其家人带来积极的结果。
