2022 Volume 49 Issue 2 Pages 65-72
“PARO” aims to be a “substitute for pets” in general households and a “substitute for animal therapy” in the medical and welfare fields. PARO is a “welfare device” in Japan, and a “biofeedback medical device” in the United States and Europe, where medical welfare systems are different. As for infection prevention and control, PARO’s artificial fur is treated with antibacterial and antiviral processing that contains silver ions so that it can be used in isolation wards for patients with weak immune systems. The VA hospitals in the US and the National Health Service in the UK evaluated and approved the cleaning and disinfection protocol of PARO. PARO has been used in home care and medical care for from children to the elderly with various diseases and disabilities, as well as medical and welfare facilities for from advanced acute to chronic and end-of-life care in more than 30 countries around the world, even during the corona pandemic. Regarding the therapeutic effects of PARO, evidence was accumulated from the results of clinical trials including randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in various countries and the results of meta-analyses. In the UK, PARO was listed as a treatment with high-quality evidence in the “NICE guidelines” for “dementia” as a “non-pharmacological treatment”. In this paper, I will describe the evidence and how PARO is being incorporated into medical and welfare systems around the world. In addition, as an initiative to address social issues, PARO has been used to provide emotional support to victims of the Great East Japan Earthquake and other disasters, as well as refugees from Ukraine to Poland following the invasion of Russia.
