Robot Pets for Older Adults Adopted by Over Half of Swedish Municipalities

During the past decade, there has been an increased interest in using social companionship robots for older adults in care homes. Previous studies have shown that these robots, often in the shape of a household pet, can decrease stress and loneliness while increasing communication and quality of life. In our research, studying the effects of cat and dog robots at care homes, we got the impression that these robots are quite common and that the reason for implementing them varies. Therefore, we conducted an online survey, asking all municipalities in Sweden if they have social companionship robots, how they are using them and for what kind of care organisation. The result showed that more than half of the municipalities use pet robots for older adults, and most commonly for people with dementia to lower stress and increase the feeling of safety.