Abstract
Session presented on Saturday, November 7, 2015 and Sunday, November 8, 2015:
Purpose: To see if animal assisted therapy improves quality of life in adult patients. PICO Question: In adult patients, will animal assisted therapy increase quality of life?
Components/Processes: We searched CINHAL and PubMed using the terms "animal therapy," "inpatient," "quality of life," "pet therapy," "mood," "anxiety," "depression," "QOL," "animal assisted therapy," "loneliness," "dog therapy," "cat therapy." We selected five articles: two were experimental, two were quasi-experimental, and one was qualitative.
Discussion of Results: Most of the studies supported animal-assisted therapy as a useful intervention for increasing quality of life in adults. One study (Johnson, Meadows, Haubner, & Sevedge, 2008) did not find significance, because it concentrated on the comparison between the effects of animal-assisted therapy versus other standard therapies. So, they concluded as well as another study (Nepps, Stewart, & Bruckno, 2011) that animal-assisted therapy was as effective as other therapies, but was not significantly more effective. Therefore, the answer to our PICO question was that animal-assisted therapy is beneficial, but the usefulness in comparison to other therapies should be researched further.
Conclusions/Implications: All studies recognize the usefulness and potential benefits of animal-assisted therapy as adjunct therapy. Further research is needed to determine its effectiveness as a primary intervention, but all studies in this synthesis agree that it has benefits. Further research should include larger sample sizes, longer duration, follow-up quality of life measurements, and concentration on specific target populations.
Sigma Membership
Non-member
Type
Poster
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Animal Assisted Therapy, Quality of Life, Adult Population
Recommended Citation
Carroll, Jessica C.; Amack, Emily M.; Curry, Madeline P.; Cessarich, Amber M.; and Beaver, Jenny D., "Animal assisted therapy effects on quality of life" (2016). Convention. 316.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/convention/2015/posters_2015/316
Conference Name
43rd Biennial Convention
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Conference Year
2015
Rights Holder
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Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Animal assisted therapy effects on quality of life
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Session presented on Saturday, November 7, 2015 and Sunday, November 8, 2015:
Purpose: To see if animal assisted therapy improves quality of life in adult patients. PICO Question: In adult patients, will animal assisted therapy increase quality of life?
Components/Processes: We searched CINHAL and PubMed using the terms "animal therapy," "inpatient," "quality of life," "pet therapy," "mood," "anxiety," "depression," "QOL," "animal assisted therapy," "loneliness," "dog therapy," "cat therapy." We selected five articles: two were experimental, two were quasi-experimental, and one was qualitative.
Discussion of Results: Most of the studies supported animal-assisted therapy as a useful intervention for increasing quality of life in adults. One study (Johnson, Meadows, Haubner, & Sevedge, 2008) did not find significance, because it concentrated on the comparison between the effects of animal-assisted therapy versus other standard therapies. So, they concluded as well as another study (Nepps, Stewart, & Bruckno, 2011) that animal-assisted therapy was as effective as other therapies, but was not significantly more effective. Therefore, the answer to our PICO question was that animal-assisted therapy is beneficial, but the usefulness in comparison to other therapies should be researched further.
Conclusions/Implications: All studies recognize the usefulness and potential benefits of animal-assisted therapy as adjunct therapy. Further research is needed to determine its effectiveness as a primary intervention, but all studies in this synthesis agree that it has benefits. Further research should include larger sample sizes, longer duration, follow-up quality of life measurements, and concentration on specific target populations.
Description
43rd Biennial Convention 2015 Theme: Serve Locally, Transform Regionally, Lead Globally.