Use of a Therapeutic, Socially Assistive Pet Robot (PARO) in Improving Mood and Stimulating Social Interaction and Communication for People With Dementia: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.
BACKGROUND
Socially assistive robotics is a growing area for geriatric research.


OBJECTIVE
This single-blind, randomized controlled trial (RCT) aims to investigate the use of PARO, a therapeutic, socially assistive pet robot, in improving mood, and stimulating social interaction and communication for people with dementia in the community.


METHODS
For the study, 40 community-dwelling older Chinese adults (≥60 years) with mild to moderate dementia will be recruited and randomly assigned to the PARO therapy group or the psychosocial activities control group. Both treatments consist of six, 30-minute weekly sessions, which will be conducted in a geriatric day hospital. Subjects in both groups will be assessed by a trained research assistant at baseline (pre-), during, and post-treatment. Mood (assessed with a simplified face scale), social interaction, and communication (ie, facial expressions and reactions towards each treatment, assessed with an observation table) will be the primary outcome measures. Secondary outcome measures will include assessments on cognitive function (Mini-Mental State Examination) and depressive symptoms (Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia), as well as caregiver burden (Zarit Burden Inventory). Subjective impression towards each treatment and qualitative comments from the caregivers, facilitator, and therapists will also be obtained.


RESULTS
Recruitment to the pilot study began in 2014 and the last subject is expected to complete their post-treatment assessment in 2015.


CONCLUSIONS
This will be the first RCT using PARO to improve mood, and stimulate social interaction and communication in the care of older people with dementia, as well as provide an evidence basis for the use of PARO in dementia care in Hong Kong.


BACKGROUND
The Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR): ACTRN12614000037606; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?ACTRN=12614000037606 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6Xi7uXdu9).
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong). rubyyu@cuhk.edu.hk.
Ruby
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7051-4689
R
Yu
Elsie
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3116-5575
E
Hui
Jenny
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9980-2529
J
Lee
Dawn
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5740-1647
D
Poon
Ashley
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9690-0879
A
Ng
Kitty
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2778-7080
K
Sit
Kenny
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8705-7557
K
Ip
Fannie
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0334-3431
F
Yeung
Martin
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0297-9120
M
Wong
Takanori
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1976-7626
T
Shibata
Jean
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7593-3081
J
Woo
PARO; dementia; elderly; randomized controlled trial; robot-assisted therapy; socially assistive robots