ALBANY, N.Y. (NEXSTAR) — The New York State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) is expanding a program that gives robot animals to New Yorkers. Now, more senior New Yorkers will get animatronic pets to help them feel less lonely and more healthy.
NYSOFA announced the launch of phase 6 of the pet initiative—alongside phase 2 of an intergenerational game project. Since 2018, they’ve delivered close to 32,000 animatronics to isolated, aged New Yorkers. These new phases roll out close to 5,000 pets and games.
Loneliness comes with real health risks—illness, depression, high blood pressure, dementia, and death—which the pets offset through their electronic companionship. The machine creatures move realistically and make sounds like real animals, because NYSOFA data shows pets reduce loneliness by 75% and pain by 7%.
A 2023 Surgeon General report called loneliness a public health crisis, costing Medicare $6.7 billion annually. To that end, according to NYSOFA, 30 other states have already copied the program so far.
NYSOFA proactively identifies New Yorkers to receive the robots, but anyone interested can contact a local office for the aging to find out how to get involved—with a discount code NYS20 available, too. The agency’s partner program—with games licensed from Hasbro—reimagines classic board games for older adults. New versions include Scrabble Bingo, Trivial Pursuit Generations, and Game of Life Generations.
NYSOFA works with Ageless Innovation, and they also partner with local aging and health orgs for intergenerational “Reach Out and Play” events. These are part of a national initiative. Beyond these programs, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also appointed Dr. Ruth Westheimer as the state’s Honorary Ambassador to Loneliness in November 2023.
“I have seen first-hand the power of these pets in the hands of lonely older adults. One individual immediately comes to mind: a 97-year-old woman with well-established dementia. While well cared for at home, she exhibited boredom and confusion, spending many hours in front of a TV that she couldn’t see because of her condition. She received an animatronic cat while on hospice care,” said Susan Schrader—the program director at the Community Health Center of the North Country—in a statement. “It was transformational. Protective and nurturing of her newfound companion, she petted it, tended to its paws, and talked to it every time it meowed. That is the power of pets.”