title: Comparison of Verbal and Emotional Responses of Elderly People with Mild/Moderate Dementia and Those with Severe Dementia in Responses to Seal Robot, PARO.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The differences in verbal and emotional responses to a baby seal robot, PARO, of elderly people with dementia residing at an elderly nursing care facility were analyzed. There were two groups of elderly people: one was with mild/moderate dementia (M-group) that consisted with 19 elderly residents in the general ward, and the other was with severe dementia (S-group) that consisted with 11 elderly residents in the dementia ward.
  
  
  METHODS
  Each elderly resident in both groups interacted with either PARO or a control (stuffed lion toy: Lion) brought by a staff at each resident's private room. Their responses were recorded on video. Behavioral analysis of the initial 6 min of the interaction was conducted using a time sampling method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both groups, subjects talked more frequently to PARO than to Lion, showed more positive changes in emotional expression with PARO than with Lion, and laughed more frequently with PARO than with Lion. Subjects in M-group even showed more negative emotional expressions with Lion than with PARO. Furthermore, subjects in S-group showed neutral expression more frequently with Lion than with PARO, suggesting more active interaction with PARO. For subjects in M-group, frequencies of touching and stroking, frequencies of talking to staff member, and frequencies of talking initiated by staff member were significantly higher with Lion than with PARO.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The elderly people both with mild/moderate dementia and with severe dementia showed greater interest in PARO than in Lion. The results suggest that introducing PARO may increase willingness of the staff members to communicate and work with elderly people with dementia, especially those with mild/moderate dementia who express their demand of communication more than those with severe dementia.
authors.affiliation: Seiwaen Geriatric Institute, Medical Cooperation Seiwakai , Ohsu , Japan ; Medical Education Center, Nippon Medical School , Tokyo , Japan.
authors.forename: Kazue
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takayanagi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Welfare, Iwate Prefectural University , Takizawa , Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kirita
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) , Tsukuba , Japan ; Tokyo Institute of Technology , Yokohama , Japan ; The AgeLab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology , Boston, MA , USA.
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shibata
keywords: PARO; mild/moderate dementia; psychological response; seal robot; severe dementia