Senior residents at Christian Health were handed 20 of the soft, adorable Joy For All companion robot dogs on April 17 by the Impactful ChangeMakers volunteer community service organization.
Local group founder Christian Barravecchio, a Franklin Lakes junior at Delbarton School in Morristown, said he got the idea to give out the robot dogs while volunteering as a therapy dog escort during visits to a senior facility in Lincoln Park.
For millions of older adults, loneliness is an ongoing crisis, posing serious repercussions for mental and physical health. Spending time with cats and dogs can go a long way towards easing loneliness, but for aging adults, people with memory loss, or those living with certain disabilities, taking care of a pet might not be realistic.
Enter: Robotic pets.
A yearly budget has been set aside to purchase robotic pets, which are specifically designed for use by Recreation Therapists in the hospital when working with dementia patients.
Robotic pets are bringing some joy to residents of a Stirling care home. Residents at HC-One Scotland’s Forthbank Care Home in Kildean, Stirling, have been experiencing heartwarming moments through the innovative form of companionship.
“Her cat brought her so much joy, and we just wanted to spread that joy,” McMichael said.
The “Joy for All Companion Pets” were gifted to residents at the assisted living facility Wednesday. Those residents spent the afternoon coming up with names, picking out collars and filling out adoption certificates for their new companions.
Families can play a new edition of Trivial Pursuit that features generation-specific trivia and personal trivia on easy-to-read cards. Split between six traditional categories, there are 1,500 questions for the Greatest Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z.