Article of the month – January 2021

The website committee has chosen the following article as publication of the month January:

Scerri, A,  Sammut, R,  Scerri, C.  Formal caregivers’ perceptions and experiences of using pet robots for persons living with dementia in long‐term care: A meta‐ethnography. J. Adv. Nurs.  2021; 77: 83– 97. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.14581

The study describes the results of a meta-ethnography synthesizing evidence from recently published papers on the perceptions of formal caregivers using pet-robots for people with dementia living in residential care. It concludes that while pet robots can have emotional, social, behavioural, and practical benefits, there are several technological, organizational and contextual challenges and limitations that constrain their routine use. The possible findings synthesized could be of benefit to robot designers by identifying the technical adjustments needed, to facility managers and policy makers by understanding the organizational factors influencing implementation and developing realistic action plans and to other healthcare professionals by appreciating the benefits of introducing pet robots as a therapy in long‐term care settings.