Robot Therapy at a Health Service Facility for the Aged

Abstract

A long-term experiment of robot therapy for elderly people has been conducted at a health service facility for the aged since Aug. 2003. Three therapeutic seal robots, named Paro, were introduced at the facility. This paper describes an interim report of the experiment after one year. Face scales, consisting of illustrations of person's faces, were used to evaluate people's moods. In addition, Geriatric Depression Scales were used to measure people's depression. These results showed the feelings of the elderly people had been improved continuously by interaction with the seal robots for the period.