“E-Pets” Combat Loneliness in Older Adults

Participants in the VISIONS Caregiver Program have reported great satisfaction with the e-pets they acquired through a robotic pet program launched by the New York State Office for the Aging and the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA). The program “provides electronic pets to older adult caregivers as a way for them to connect and engage in an entertaining activity that helps minimize isolation and stress caused by the pandemic.” Read more about it in Stories You Can’t Miss. VISIONS Unpaid Caregiver Support Program serves those assisting older adults where the caregiver and/or care recipient is/are blind or visually impaired and grandparents who are the primary caregivers for a child where either the grandparent or child is blind or visually impaired. More information is available on the VISIONS Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired website.