Robotic remedy pets give aged sufferers a brand new leash on life at S.F. Normal

SAN FRANCISCO — Many hospitals use cuddly, lovable remedy animals to assist sufferers of their restoration however, as a rule, these pets do not arrive in a field. 

“We had actual animals that got here round for some time however they’re solely right here for a number of hours every week,” stated Annelie Nilsson, medical nurse specialist at Zuckerberg San Francisco Normal Hospital. 

Nilsson might have discovered the following neatest thing: robots that look, really feel and sound similar to actual pets.  

“It has been an important response,” she stated. “Sufferers simply love them. It brings a smile to folks’s faces.”  

It began in the course of the pandemic when Nilsson observed her aged sufferers — lots of them affected by dementia — have been having an particularly laborious time. 

“The households weren’t in a position to go to and it will get a little bit lonely right here within the hospital,” she stated.  

So Nilsson turned to the San Francisco Normal Hospital Basis and was given a grant to purchase 50 robotic cats and canines. 

Kim Meredith, the inspiration CEO, stated she was skeptical till she noticed them in motion.  

“They’re furry they usually’re cuddly they usually’re fabulous,” she stated.  

They purr and transfer and may appear so lifelike that, at occasions, Nilsson has to remind of us they don’t seem to be actual. 

“I had one affected person say ‘I hope that was a contented cat when it was alive’ as a result of he thought it was a taxidermy cat,” she stated. 

The robotic pets price as much as $150 every however the reactions from sufferers, Nilsson stated, are priceless.  

No want feed them or stroll them.  For Nilsson, it is near-perfect progress. Besides, maybe, for one factor.  

“The one restrict is its battery,” she stated. 

WEBLINKS

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center

Joy for All Companion Pets

San Francisco General Hospital Foundation