Cathie Ramey,  March 3, 2008

While it may surprise us that doggie robots bring joy to older folks in nursing homes, it gives us real insight into what's important as we age.  Dr. William Thomas, founder of The Eden Alternative, believes that nursing homes should be warm, interactive environments. Visiting some of the 300 registered homes in North America, Europe and Australia, you'd see plants, animals, family and more. While we may think it's sweet that older adults talked to their canine companions about their lives, research done by Dr. Gene Cohen reveals that the need to talk about our lives is a real stage of development. Lots of  homes even post short life stories outside rooms so the staff can get to know the person who lives there. Who we are and where we've been is important to each of us; after all, we're the authors of our own life story. So, whether real or robotic, I say if they can lend an ear and not interrupt, we should let nursing homes go to the dogs.