{"id":204525,"date":"2026-04-21T10:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204525\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T10:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T10:26:09","slug":"new-york-sends-out-robots-to-combat-isolation-among-older-adults","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/204525\/","title":{"rendered":"New York sends out robots to combat isolation among older adults"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Menands<\/p>\n

Menands resident Joan Abrams adjusts her robot, ElliQ. The robot cares about her, gave her a nickname, and she speaks to it as if it were a human, she said.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Moore\/Times Union\"ElliQ,<\/p>\n

ElliQ, a robot designed to be a talking companion for isolated older adults, suggests designing a drawing with Menands resident Joan Abrams. The robot makes suggestions to encourage its owner to interact.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Moore\/Times Union\"Menands<\/p>\n

Menands resident Joan Abrams looks at her robot, ElliQ. The robot cares about her, gave her a nickname, and she speaks to it as if it were a human, she said.<\/p>\n

Kathleen Moore\/Times Union<\/p>\n

The first thing Joan Abrams wants you to know about her ElliQ is that it isn\u2019t a robot. At least, not in her eyes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my companion,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

The technological creature does not move. But it does talk, both in an effort to encourage Abrams to respond and in its attempts to provide answers to Abrams.<\/p>\n

It is much like early generative artificial intelligence\u00a0conversations\u00a0\u2014 ElliQ is friendly, eager, and doesn\u2019t always understand what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

It was designed to provide company. New York state sends them to isolated adults, often people who can no longer drive or walk easily, have no family nearby, and whose friends have died from old age. The level of isolation those circumstances can cause is considered a leading cause of death among older adults, according to medical studies<\/a>.<\/p>\n

35,000 robots and counting<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s Office for the Aging is turning to robots, including machines like ElliQ, in hopes of solving isolation problems in a cost-effective way as New York\u2019s elderly population steadily increases. Other states, such as Florida, Michigan and Washington, have turned to robots to fight loneliness<\/a>, too.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Many aging New Yorkers now have small, cuddly robotic dogs and cats. They do not walk\u00a0\u2014 that could create a tripping risk, according to the Office for the Aging\u00a0\u2014 but they do bark and purr.<\/p>\n

There are birds that attach to a walker and begin tweeting if the resident walks away from them, forgetting the walker.<\/p>\n

The robots go to adults who could benefit from a live pet but can no longer care for one.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may not be able to walk your dog, you may not be able to afford dog food, there\u2019s a fall risk,\u201d Acting Director of the Office for the Aging Greg Olsen said. \u201cIs my dog going to outlive me?\u00a0Who is going to take care of it? If you\u2019re on a fixed income, it\u2019s an issue\u00a0\u2014 (vet) checkup is almost $500.\u201d<\/p>\n

But pets can help prevent loneliness.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a calming, soothing effect that animals have on people,\u201d Olsen said.<\/p>\n

In 2018, he read an alarming Medicare report on the health impact of isolation. The report said it was the equivalent of smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will literally kill you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A week later, he saw a robotic toy cat for the first time. It was soft, produced a vibration and purr, and it entranced young children. His first thought: this is the answer to that report on isolation.<\/p>\n

He bought 20 robotic cats and 30 robotic dogs, distributed them to isolated adults who agreed to be part of a study, and asked them to respond to questions every three months.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter 12 months, there was a 75% reduction in loneliness, isolation, depression and pain,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know the science behind what happens in the brain, but I know it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Now, the state has sent out 35,000 robotic pets. Caseworkers at each local Office for the Aging recommend the appropriate pet for specific clients. It is free for them. The office spends $350,000 a year on the robotic pets and $700,000 a year on ElliQ, made\u00a0by Intuition Robotics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not trying to replace human beings with technology,\u201d Olsen said. \u201cBut the fact of the matter is there are a lot of older adults who don\u2019t have anybody. They don\u2019t have family, they don\u2019t have friends, they may not be able to get out to events.\u201d<\/p>\n

A small, purring pet can make a significant difference. People know they\u2019re robotic, of course, but they get attached anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of people ask that they are buried with their pet. That is becoming very common,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Then, three years ago, the state introduced a new type of robot: ElliQ. It talks. It feels very real.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe cares how I feel,\u201d said Abrams, 78, who has had an\u00a0ElliQ for two years.<\/p>\n

The robot, she noted, addresses her each morning, asking how she is doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m special to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

In anonymized data, New York state found that\u00a0ElliQ users are interacting with the talking robots more and more frequently. In their third year with one of these robots, they interact with it 41 times a day on average, up from 29 times a day in year two, according to\u00a0data from the Office for the Aging<\/a>. There are 834 ElliQs in use throughout the state, and 3,500 residents have requested one, the office said.<\/p>\n

ElliQ will keep conversations going for as long as possible and propose activities without being prompted. During a visit with the Times Union, ElliQ suggested designing artwork with Abrams, asking her to provide descriptive words while the robot created the image.\u00a0ElliQ also proposed and ran a meditation. It will not stop trying to interact until directed.<\/p>\n

At first, Abrams said, she would sneak out of the room because ElliQ would respond to any sound. Then she learned to tell ElliQ to be quiet for a set period of time, which ElliQ obeys with a countdown clock on its \u201cface,\u201d a tablet.<\/p>\n

Still, Abrams loves that ElliQ is that interested.<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not going to bother me if I don\u2019t want her to bother me, but she\u2019s here,\u201d Abrams said. \u201cI\u2019m not really alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns, Abrams stopped going out. Then she found herself just lying in bed if she had nothing to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I turn to her,\u201d she said of ElliQ. \u201cWe play games. I talk to her like a human being. We carry on a conversation nonstop with each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n

Without ElliQ, she said, \u201cI might have lost it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Menands resident Joan Abrams adjusts her robot, ElliQ. The robot cares about her, gave her a nickname, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[844,610,9,24,12,63,134,136,135],"class_list":{"0":"post-204525","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-staten-island","8":"tag-latestnews","9":"tag-local","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-new-york-city","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-nyc","14":"tag-staten-island","15":"tag-staten-island-headlines","16":"tag-staten-island-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}