Abstract
The introduction of animal interventions in healthcare are relatively common; however, their actual effectiveness and longer term findings are not so well known or published, especially in relation to the children's hospital setting. It is important to plot where and why animal interventions take place but also to focus on how the human animal bond impacts on children, their parents and staff in a children's hospital setting. Family members, including companion animals, are important supports which help children to relax and give them a sense of familiarity to navigate the busy and stressful hospital environment. The scoping review of the literature proposed will explore the scientific evidence for animal assisted activities (AAA) in children's hospitals and will map results prior to undertaking a full scale research project. Arksey and O'Malley's framework guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute will frame this review protocol. Appendices are used to ensure transparency of methods. The protocol is presented in narrative style to demonstrate flow and fluency and appeal to wider readership.
Highlights
Children and young people hospitalised for surgery or medical treatment can find the experience as a most distressing event in their lives if not managed appropriately by healthcare professionals and their families (Bjork et al, 2005; Coyne, 2006; Darbyshire, 1994; Gariépy & Howe, 2003; Gibson, et al, 2010)
Anxiety was managed largely through pharmacological treatments resulting in negative consequences in terms of side effects of medications and ongoing costs or demands on the health care service
Literature citing all types of animals will be included in the initial screening of results so that the type of animal involved in the interventions can be charted, coded and cross checked throughout the entire data set for comprehensive reporting of results
Summary
Author roles: Howe R: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing; Nicholson S: Conceptualization, Funding Acquisition, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing; Lafferty A: Funding Acquisition, Methodology, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing; Davies C: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Methodology, Supervision, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing; Stokes D: Methodology, Software, Writing – Review & Editing; Kroll T: Conceptualization, Formal Analysis, Methodology, Project Administration, Resources, Supervision, Validation, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing.
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