Chava Pollak

Papers

Total Citations

H-Index

About

Chava Pollak is a leading researcher in geriatric care, specializing in the use of robotic pet therapy to combat social and physical frailty in older adults. Her work focuses on innovative, non-pharmacological interventions to improve outcomes for aging populations, particularly in hospital and community settings. Pollak’s major contributions include landmark randomized controlled trials demonstrating that robotic pets—such as lifelike cats and dogs with audible heartbeats—can significantly reduce loneliness, depression, and delirium while decreasing the need for restraints and one-on-one companions in hospitalized elders. Her 2022 study, cited 13 times, showed that robotic pets effectively mitigate social and physical frailty in community-dwelling older adults post-discharge, offering a scalable solution to enhance quality of life. With earlier work (2018, 4 citations) establishing the feasibility of robotic therapy in acute care, Pollak has pioneered a shift toward technology-assisted compassionate care. Her research bridges engineering and gerontology, providing evidence that simple, interactive devices can yield profound psychosocial and physical benefits. Pollak’s work is widely recognized for its practical impact, offering healthcare systems a cost-effective tool to address the growing challenges of an aging society.