Table 2.

Theme development.

Examples of original text/quotations	Codes	Categories	Themes
‘It’s like a buddy, I like him, and he likes me’. ‘Do you like me? I don’t like myself. You like me? I think it says, you are not a bad guy. You are okay!’‘Yes, you like me. Good, give me ten’.	• Recognition• Having fun together• Acceptance• Mutual respect	InclusionIdentity	‘It’s like a buddy’The robot helps people with dementia uphold or reclaim a sense of self in the world
‘It’s a conversation piece. It’s kind of cute. PARO makes me feel at home. It’s like if you have been away from home for a long time, like a year, then you got home. And it triggers memories. Remember the song: (singing) Like a bridge over troubled water . . .’	• Enabling emotion expression• Facilitating social connection• Validation• Acknowledgement	OccupationAttachment	‘It’s a conversation piece’The baby seal facilitates social connection
‘It makes me happy; I love it. I worried and I am sad about being here [hospital]. This [robot] should be used more in the hospital to make patients happy’.	• Warmth• Holding• Relaxed atmosphere	Comfort	‘It makes me happy’PARO transforms and humanizes the clinical setting