Jennifer Hewson
Papers
1
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1
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About
Jennifer Hewson is a pioneering researcher at the intersection of dementia care, human-animal interaction, and assistive technology. Her work critically examines how robotic pets—affordable animatronic dogs and cats—are being integrated into therapeutic settings for people living with dementia. Rather than focusing solely on clinical outcomes, Hewson’s research probes the ethical and relational dimensions of these interventions, asking what it means to forge meaningful bonds with non-sentient companions. Her most-cited paper, "Forging human–animal bonds? Introducing robotic pets into the care of people with dementia" (2025), has already garnered attention for its nuanced exploration of treatment outcomes, implementation challenges, and the moral complexities of substituting living animals with machines. By bridging human-computer interaction, gerontology, and animal studies, Hewson challenges scholars and practitioners to reconsider the nature of care, companionship, and authenticity in dementia care. Her work is essential reading for anyone interested in the ethics of technology in aging, offering a critical counterpoint to purely utilitarian assessments of robotic interventions.
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