A ROBOTIC seal made in Japan is being taken into homes across the county to help dementia sufferers.

The baby seal, called Paro, helps to cut stress and make people more sociable and motivated.

Worcester-based Home Instead Senior Care invested in the 'therapeutic seal' to help dementia patients who might not be able to look after their own pet.

Mark Hamer, owner of Home Instead Senior Care, said: "When I first heard about a robot being introduced into the daily care plan for someone with dementia, my first reaction was to reject the idea outright.

“At Home Instead we excel in person centred care and this seemed to be the complete opposite.

“However, when I read studies and then saw people with dementia interacting with Paro the seal I immediately saw its tremendous potential to improve many lives.

"Far from replacing human contact with a client, Paro is a therapeutic device that can stimulate, calm and motivate those with dementia, making their lives happier.”

Mr Hamer believes his company is the first to use Paro in a home care setting in this country.

He originally came across the use of therapeutic robots in dementia care while completing his degree in dementia studies.

Laura Goodridge, head of client experience for the company, said that one patient experienced a range of emotions when they met Paro.

She said: “I looked round and there were tears of joy running down the face of our client’s daughter at what she was witnessing.

“The emotion soon had our caregiver and myself in floods of tears too – we all hid in the kitchen weeping while our client, who has quite advanced dementia, and Paro were having a very happy time together in the lounge.”

Paro moves its head and legs and imitates the voice of a real baby harp seal.

The seal also has sensors and responds when it is stroked.

It can also recognise the direction of voice and words such as its name, greetings and praise.

The seal cost £30million to develop.