Assessing the Effects of Robotic Pets on Patients With Dementia in the Acute Care Hospital Setting
NCT ID: NCT06683443
Last Updated: 2025-10-17
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
NA
106 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2024-01-02
2025-12-31
Brief Summary
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Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMHCS) researchers are seeking to make companion pets available to patients with dementia to provide them with a supplemental enrichment experience that enhances their overall care and lowers their risk for superimposed delirium. The intervention will consist of providing a robotic pet to the patient within 48 hours of admission, which the patient will keep with them throughout their hospital stay and upon discharge. SMHCS researchers will evaluate the effects of the robotic pet interaction on patient delirium scores, as measured by the Nursing Delirium Screening Scale (Nu-DESC), length of stay, and the use of intravenous psychotropic medications, code greys, falls occurrence, restraint use, and IV dislodgement in patients with mild-to-moderate dementia. The Nu-DESC scale is a short assessment tool, estimated to take approximately 3-5 minutes to complete and is already part of standard care at SMHCS. This tool is used by nursing staff with minimal additional training and shows consistent sensitivity (85.7%) and specificity (86.8%) in detecting delirium. The NuDESC score may be positive in a patient with dementia, since some characteristics of dementia can be similar to delirium. However, patients with dementia are at higher risk for developing delirium, so the NuDESC is a helpful tool for the nurse. A score of 2 or higher is considered screening positive for delirium. For this study, the NuDESC tool will be used as a guideline to assist in the screening of delirium. The patients will have to score a 4 or less to be included in the study. Patients that are scoring \>4 will be excluded. Theoretic Framework of Acceptability (TFA) is a questionnaire which will be used to assess health care provider acceptability of the companion animal. This tool is currently not in use at SMHCS, but it will be used as part of this study to assess whether health care providers accept (or reject) the robotic pets as companion animals.
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Detailed Description
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Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
NONE
Study Groups
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Robotic Pet
The intervention group will receive the robotic Joy for All™ pet.
Robotic Joy for All™ pet
Patients will be provided with the robotic pet within 48 hours of admission and have access to the pets throughout their hospitalization to provide comfort and engagement.
Control
Control group will receive the current standard of care, no robotic pet.
No interventions assigned to this group
Interventions
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Robotic Joy for All™ pet
Patients will be provided with the robotic pet within 48 hours of admission and have access to the pets throughout their hospitalization to provide comfort and engagement.
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Dementia indicated in the patient's chart
* Admitted to the designated medical-surgical units at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
* Ages 65 and older
* NuDESC score will be 0-4 during study enrollment.
Exclusion Criteria
* \<65 years old
* NuDESC score \>4 during study enrollment
* Patients at risk for alcohol withdrawal or substance abuse withdrawal
* Enhanced isolation precautions (c.diff)
* Presenting with paranoia, hallucinations, or severe agitation
65 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Joanna D'Elia
Adv Specialty Program Coord, Clinical Specialty Programs
Principal Investigators
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Joanna D'Elia, MSN, RN, GERO-BC
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
Locations
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Sarasota Memorial Health Care System
Sarasota, Florida, United States
Countries
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References
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Heidenreich, A. & Gresbach, S. (2018). The "Nu" way for nurses to screen for delirium. American Nurse Today, 13(5). 52-54.
Hudson J, Ungar R, Albright L, Tkatch R, Schaeffer J, Wicker ER. Robotic Pet Use Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2020 Oct 16;75(9):2018-2028. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbaa119.
Morandi A, Bellelli G. Delirium superimposed on dementia. Eur Geriatr Med. 2020 Feb;11(1):53-62. doi: 10.1007/s41999-019-00261-6. Epub 2019 Nov 14.
Morley JE. Dementia-related agitation. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2011 Nov;12(9):611-612.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2011.08.008. Epub 2011 Oct 5. No abstract available.
Moyle W, Bramble M, Jones C, Murfield J. Care staff perceptions of a social robot called Paro and a look-alike Plush Toy: a descriptive qualitative approach. Aging Ment Health. 2018 Mar;22(3):330-335. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2016.1262820. Epub 2016 Dec 14.
Moyle W, Bramble M, Jones CJ, Murfield JE. "She Had a Smile on Her Face as Wide as the Great Australian Bite": A Qualitative Examination of Family Perceptions of a Therapeutic Robot and a Plush Toy. Gerontologist. 2019 Jan 9;59(1):177-185. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnx180.
Moyle W, Murfield J, Jones C, Beattie E, Draper B, Ownsworth T. Can lifelike baby dolls reduce symptoms of anxiety, agitation, or aggression for people with dementia in long-term care? Findings from a pilot randomised controlled trial. Aging Ment Health. 2019 Oct;23(10):1442-1450. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2018.1498447. Epub 2018 Nov 24.
Petersen S, Houston S, Qin H, Tague C, Studley J. The Utilization of Robotic Pets in Dementia Care. J Alzheimers Dis. 2017;55(2):569-574. doi: 10.3233/JAD-160703.
Related Links
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Delirium: when to be worried about confusion and what to do next: Update for nurses on timely assessment of this common condition in acute settings and long-term care, and why it should be treated as a medical emergency. Nursing Older People, 35(2), 6-8.
The interface between delirium and dementia in elderly adults. The Lancet Neurology, 14(8), 823-832.
PARO Therapeutic Robot
Delirium. \[Updated 2022 Nov 19\].
Other Identifiers
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23-MEDI-96
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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