Residents of nursing homes will now have the right to be accompanied by a pet, this is established by the Aging Well law. And then there are also animal robots, which can facilitate exchanges and improve the mood of the most vulnerable.
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The Aging Well law was definitively adopted in the Senate on March 27. Among the various measures to prevent loss of autonomy and combat the isolation of elderly people, is the right of residents to welcome their pet within establishments. A week after the National Assembly, the Senate therefore validated the bill.
Obviously, “We’ll have to be realistic.”, as stated by the Minister Delegate in charge of the Elderly, Fadila Khattabiwe will not be able to move into a nursing home with “an animal like a boa. They are rather “dogs, cats, goldfish, the little canary”, who will be welcome in the 7,500 nursing homes in France, public, private or associative.
By allowing each resident to be welcomed with their pet, this measure allows elderly people to better understand the nursing home and to feel at home again. When admitted to a nursing home, people are aged 85 on average, which however raises certain organizational questions regarding the animal..
Who will take care of it if the master loses autonomy or ends up hospitalized? “Solutions exist, the family can take over, volunteers can also come and help”explains Reha Hutin, president of the 30 million friends Foundation, which has been campaigning for years for animals to enter nursing homes. “We must define a framework to avoid these cruel separations”both for the owner and for the dog or cat, sometimes abandoned in shelters.
Robot pets and the therapeutic benefits for older adults
Robot animals were introduced into retirement homes in Japan starting in 2009 to replicate the benefits of pet therapy. Many studies have been carried out and the results are good.
Between 2009 and 2015, other robot animals were created. Experiments have been carried out in Japan and the United States. In retirement homes, they gave these robots to elderly people suffering from dementia. People were able to benefit from 20-minute group sessions, three times a week for three months, during which they had access to the PARO seal. Dr. Charlotte Yeh’s study showed that their anxiety decreased, as did their need for medication to relieve pain or behavioral problems.
The AP-HP Bretonneau in Paris and the Phoque PARO
France Inter report from October 5, 2017 at Bretonneau hospital on the Flocon seal robot.