Exploring Use of Companion Robot Pets for Older Adults in Care Homes

NCT04168463 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 268571
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 83
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study will assess the use and impact of the affordable 'Joy for All' robot pets for older people with and without dementia living in the care homes in South West England. Robot pets such as Paro have shown potential in improving wellbeing (including reduced agitation, loneliness, medication use, anxiety and depression), however previous work conducted by the investigators suggests Paro is less acceptable to older adults than alternative devices; the Joy for All cat and dog. Paro is also much more expensive (£5000 compared to £100) limiting its use within the real world, and limiting the number of people able to benefit. The investigators therefore wish to explore the potential of these more affordable robots in achieving wellbeing benefits.

Conditions

Aging; Dementia; Neuropsychiatric Symptoms; Wellbeing

Keywords

Dementia; Social robots; Companion robots; Robot pets; Wellbeing; Older adults; Long-term care; Residential care

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Neuropsychiatric Inventory (Nursing Home Version) (Cummings, 1994)

  Will be used to assess any changes in neuropsychiatric symptoms of care home residents. For each domain, there are four scores; frequency (0-4, with higher scores being most frequent), severity (0-3, with higher scores being most severe), total score (frequency x severity), and caregiver distress (0-5, higher scores signal more distress)

  Measured at baseline, 4 months and 8 months

Secondary Outcomes (6)

• Challenging Behaviour Scale (Moniz-Cook et al., 2001)

  Measured at baseline, 4 months and 8 months

• Campaign to End Loneliness Measurement Tool (3-item) (Campaign to End Loneliness, n.d.)

  Measured at baseline, 4 months and 8 months

• Holden Communication Scale (Strøm et al., 2016)

  Measured at baseline, 4 months and 8 months

• Medication Use Review

  Will be reviewed for the 4 weeks prior to study commencement, 4 weeks prior to 4 month post study commencement and the 4 weeks prior to study completion at 8 months

• 1:1 Care Applications

  Will be reviewed for the 4 weeks prior to study commencement, 4 weeks prior to 4 month post study commencement and the 4 weeks prior to study completion at 8 months

Study Arms (2)

Immediate Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

This cluster of four homes will receive robot animals immediately at commencement of the eight month trial.

Device: Two Joy for All robots (one cat and one dog)

Delayed Intervention

OTHER

This cluster of four homes will receive robot animals four months after commencement of the 8 month trial. The four months without robots will serve as a control period.

Device: Two Joy for All robots (one cat and one dog)

Interventions

Two Joy for All robots (one cat and one dog) DEVICE

Intervention will include the opportunity to interact with the Joy for All robot animals.

Also known as: Robot pets, Companion robots

Delayed Intervention; Immediate Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 65 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Any resident at a collaborating care home or nursing home that has consent to participate.

You may not qualify if:

• Any resident at a collaborating home without consent to participate.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Plymouth: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Plymouth

Plymouth, Devon, PL4 8AA, United Kingdom

Location

Related Publications (3)

• Moniz-Cook E, Woods R, Gardiner E, Silver M, Agar S. The Challenging Behaviour Scale (CBS): development of a scale for staff caring for older people in residential and nursing homes. Br J Clin Psychol. 2001 Sep;40(3):309-22. doi: 10.1348/014466501163715.

  PMID: 11593958 BACKGROUND

• Strom BS, Engedal K, Saltyte Benth J, Grov EK. Psychometric evaluation of the Holden Communication Scale (HCS) for persons with dementia. BMJ Open. 2016 Dec 13;6(12):e013447. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013447.

  PMID: 27965255 BACKGROUND

• Bradwell H, Edwards KJ, Winnington R, Thill S, Allgar V, Jones RB. Implementing Affordable Socially Assistive Pet Robots in Care Homes Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Stratified Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial and Mixed Methods Study. JMIR Aging. 2022 Aug 24;5(3):e38864. doi: 10.2196/38864.

  PMID: 35830959 DERIVED

Related Links

• Campaign to End Loneliness (n.d.)
• Holden Communication Scale

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dementia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Hannah L Bradwell, MSc

  PhD Student, School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Plymouth

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Masking Details: N/A not possible
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator

Model Details: Stepped-wedge, cluster randomised control trial

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 15, 2019
• First Posted: November 19, 2019
• Study Start: January 1, 2020
• Primary Completion: October 30, 2020
• Study Completion: January 1, 2021
• Last Updated: February 23, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

GB (1)