PARO’s Stress-Reduction Potential for Older Adults

As the proportion of older adults in the United States is growing, there is a need to develop methods that enable older adults to maintain well-being in their own homes. Stress, if not managed properly, can hinder older adults’ ability to maintain well-being. Efforts focusing on the development of novel methods of stress reduction have identified pet-type robots as being potentially efficacious. The present research will test this effect in one such robot absent of other social interactions and will disentangle the robot attributes that contribute to stress-reduction. Data collection is ongoing, but current results suggest that PARO may reduce stress, but the specific stress-reducing attributes are still unclear. Upon study completion, the results of this research will provide insights into PARO’s potential to be a therapeutic tool for older adults and inform design of such robots to maximize their stress-reduction capabilities.