Robot pets are a symptom of a crisis in care | Letter

There are better ways to support care home residents, such as improving conditions for staff, writes Chris PhillipsonYour report (‘It’s almost magical’: how robotic pets are helping UK care home residents, 1 September) made for depressing reading. Some 70% of residents in care homes do indeed have some form of dementia or severe memory problems. Evidence that they can be helped by interaction with robotic dogs, cats and seals is mixed, to say the least.Much more important is cr