"We always talk about using non-pharmacological approaches first, before there's any consideration on using medications to help address those dementia-related behaviors," Moreno said. It might be different for someone who is allergic to animals or has different past experiences with them.
If someone with dementia had a pet all their life and was attached to the animal, and a caregiver finds that a robotic cat or dog helps relieve some of the anxiety that person is experiencing, that's a good intervention, Moreno said. "What are their likes and dislikes and their preferences? What did they used to do for a living? What's most meaningful to them? What's their routine like? And the reason for that is that you can then start to think about what are some of the interventions that you can use to help reduce those dementia-related behaviors," Moreno said. In working to engage and interact with someone living with dementia, it's important that whoever is providing care really gets to know the person, said Moreno, especially if they're exhibiting signs of anxiety or frustration. The association was not involved in this study. The improvements in mood and behavior could also translate to improved quality of life for caregivers and family members, she said.īut not everyone would benefit from a robotic pet, said Monica Moreno, senior director of care and support for the Alzheimer's Association. While improving mood, behaviors and mental acuity, the pets gave the participants an alternative way to express themselves, Wiese said. The researchers also assessed the relationship between the cognition and mood tests, with findings indicating a relationship between positive mood and mental state scores, according to the study. Looking at cognition - thinking skills - researchers found slight to moderate improvement in attention/calculation and language in the post-test of more than half of participants compared to the pre-test. They found participants had improvements in all of the mood scores. The researchers evaluated mood using three different mood and behavior scales. RELATED Study: Harmful protein that causes Alzheimer's disease may be produced in liver