Robotic Pet Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit
Background: Robotic pet therapy could aid in the nonpharmacologic treatment of pain, agitation, delirium, immobility, and sleep disruption (PADIS) in the intensive care unit (ICU), similar to traditional pet therapy.
Observations: The North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System implemented a robotic pet therapy program for patients requiring ICU care. Details of this program are described in this article, including evaluating its impact on PADIS management.
Conclusions: Robotic pet therapy can be successfully implemented in the ICU and could be a simple, safe, and beneficial nonpharmacologic intervention for PADIS.
Program Impact
A retrospective cohort study was conducted to assess for improvements in PADIS symptoms and medication use post-intervention. Patients were included if they received robotic pet therapy in the ICU from July 10, 2019, to February 1, 2021. Individuals aged < 18 years or > 89 years, were pregnant, or were not receiving ICU-level care were excluded. Outcomes assessed included improvement in pain scores, agitation scores, sleep quality, resolution of delirium, and use of pain or psychoactive medications during patients’ ICU stay.
Thirty patients were included in the study (Table 2). After receiving a robotic pet, 9 (30%) patients recorded decreased pain scores, 15 (50%) recorded decreased agitation scores, 8 (27%) had resolution of delirium, and 2 (7%) described improvement in sleep. Pain medication use decreased in 12 (40%) patients and psychoactive medication use was reduced in 7 (23%) patients.
Limitations
The robotic pet therapy program has shown promising results; however, some aspects merit discussion. Evaluation of this program is limited by factors such as the observational study design, single-center patient sample, and lack of comparator group. Although no known adverse effects of robotic pet therapy were seen, it is possible that some patients may not have a favorable response. Challenges of implementing a robotic pet therapy program include cost and additional operational activities (storage, ordering, dispensing) necessary to maintain the program. Additional research is needed to evaluate the impact of robotic pet therapy on other outcomes including cost, ICU length of stay, and patient satisfaction.
CONCLUSIONS
Robotic pet therapy can be successfully implemented in the ICU and appears to provide a simple, safe, beneficial, nonpharmacologic intervention for PADIS. This study showed that many patients had favorable response to robotic pet therapy, indicating that it may be a viable alternative to traditional pet therapy. Other health systems could benefit from implementing programs similar to the robotic pet therapy program at NF/SGVHS.
Acknowledgments
The author would like to acknowledge Simran Panesar, PharmD, and Theresa Faison, PharmD, for their contributions to this project.
