UTICA —The North Utica Senior Citizens Community Center has taken a new approach to help combat loneliness.

With financial assistance from The Mele Family Fund and The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, the center was able to acquire robotic pets for its elderly members.

The North Utica Senior Citizens Community Center, located at 50 Riverside Drive, is an affiliate of The Neighborhood Center. The senior center provides various intergenerational services, such as pre-school, pre-kindergarten, daycare, a before and after school program, as well as health and wellness programs for senior citizens.

Sandra Soroka, executive director of The Neighborhood Center, implemented their most recent program of providing robotic pets to the center’s senior members after researching the benefits they have on seniors, especially those with severe diagnoses.

“It really helps with the social and emotional needs of our elders with dementia and Alzheimer’s patients,” Soroka said. “These animals are actually associated with a reduction in negative behaviors of some of these patients, an improvement in memory, and certainly in their general wellbeing and happiness.”

The center provides both robotic dogs and cats that mimic the sounds and movements of their real-life counterparts. The robotic cats purr and respond to touch, while the robotic dogs bark and respond to voices. Both robotic pets offer an authentic feel with their synthetic fur and provide senior members with the ability to have a realistic-acting pet without the maintenance of taking care of a real animal.

According to a study published in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, robotic pets may be an effective solution for alleviating loneliness in older adults, especially among those who live alone, have fewer social connections and live less active lifestyles.

“Social isolation certainly can produce a lot of depression and, in turn, create a lot of physical problems,” Soroka said. “There are all sorts of things associated with individuals who are depressed or socially isolated and don’t get the interaction that they need. These robotic animals have had a big impact on that.”

The center has purchased 12 robotic animals, with seven of them currently on loan to its members. The robotic pets are free to the center’s senior members. The center asks the members who partake in their robotic pet program to allow the center to follow up with them and see how they have been benefiting from their new robotic companion.

Soroka claims that the response from the senior members has been overwhelmingly positive so far.

For more information on the North Utica Senior Citizens Community Center, visit thenucc.org