Fraternity Alumni are Providing Robotic Companion Pets Through Capital Caring Health to All Texas Long-Term Care Centers for Veterans
Falls Church, Virginia; September 13, 2023: Thanks to a grant from the Phi Gamma Delta MIT Foundation, Capital Caring Health will be providing each of the nine-state managed long-term veteran care facilities in Texas with six robotic companion pets. These pets, proven in major clinical studies over the years, help improve the daily lives of Veterans and others suffering from all forms of dementia including Alzheimer’s.
Steve Cone, Chief of Philanthropy at Capital Caring Health remarked, “When a Veteran with dementia is handed a robotic dog or cat their personality is often literally transformed from agitated, angry, and sometimes confused to joyful, friendly, and loving their new pet friend. These pets are not toys—they perform much like real dogs and cats and respond to sound and touch as well as movement because of motion sensors in their eyes.”
Also remarking, Robert Mohr for the Phi Gamma Delta MIT Foundation went on to say: “No Veteran in Texas or elsewhere should have to suffer from the mental devastation of dementia when there is a proven low-cost way of providing robotic pet companionship that allows the Veteran to hold a pet and make it their own and have a sense of worth and purpose. Plus, live pets are usually not an option for various reasons at long-term care centers housing dementia patients.”
The Capital Caring Health clinical staff also see firsthand that dementia sufferers with a robotic pet can often have daily medications reduced. Depression and feeling isolated can also be improved.
To learn more about providing robotic companion pets for Veterans with dementia, go to capitalcaring.org/petsforveterans.
About Capital Caring Health: Capital Caring Health is a not-for-profit, community-based organization founded in the nation’s capital in 1977. Capital Caring Health is one of the most experienced and respected providers in the nation of advanced illness, hospice, and elder care, including primary care at home. Our care for children with life–limiting disease is the largest on the East Coast. Additional services focus on the special care needs of veterans and those with heart failure and end-stage lung disease. More than $3 million annually funds care for those who lack coverage or the necessary financial resources for services. Over the years, Capital Caring Health has provided hospice, palliative care, and counseling to nearly 120,000 patients and their families through our regional neighborhood network across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C.
Contact:
Steve Cone, Chief of Communications, Marketing & Philanthropy
scone@capitalcaring.org
703-712-4860