Katharina Buczek
While Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia currently have no cure, this intervention method had great success in mood and behavioral management.
Mood scores improved across the board, especially on the Cornell Scale of Depression in Dementia and the Observed Emotion Rating Scale.
Additionally, more than fifty percent of the participants showed either slight or moderate improvement in language, attention, and registration.
Plus, the participants loved the experience. Many regarded their cat as looking at them, listening to them, and chose to keep their cat close by at all times.
Bryanna Streit LaRose, the lead author who conducted the study, said, “Since there is no cure for dementia, our project offers a way to address symptoms naturally and without the use of pharmacological treatments, which may or may not be effective and have possible detrimental side effects.”
These robotic cats are safe, affordable, and even enjoyable for participants. This ability to positively impact a patient’s quality of life in an expressive and noninvasive way is groundbreaking.
To read the complete study, click here.
