Abstract
BackgroundDogs are the most common companion animal, and therefore not surprisingly a popular choice for animal-assisted interventions. Dog-assisted interventions are increasingly used in healthcare. The aim of the review was to conduct a systematic literature review of quantitative studies on dog-assisted interventions in healthcare, with the intention of assessing the effects and cost-effectiveness of the interventions for different categories of patients.MethodsA systematic review of the scientific literature reporting results of studies in healthcare, nursing home or home care settings, was conducted. The inclusion criteria applied for this review were: quantitative studies, inclusion of at least 20 study subjects, existence of a control and performed in healthcare settings including nursing homes and home care. The electronic databases PubMed, AMED, CINAHL and Scopus were searched from their inception date through January 2017, for published articles from peer-reviewed journals with full text in English.ResultsEighteen studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria, and were judged to be of at least moderate quality, were included in the analysis. Three of them showed no effect. Fifteen showed at least one significant positive effect but in most studied outcome measures there was no significant treatment effect. Dog-assisted therapy had the greatest potential in treatment of psychiatric disorders among both young and adult patients. Dog-assisted activities had some positive effects on health, wellbeing, depression and quality of life for patients with severe cognitive disorders. Dog-assisted support had positive effects on stress and mood.ConclusionsThe overall assessment of the included studies indicates minor to moderate effects of dog-assisted therapy in psychiatric conditions, as well as for dog-assisted activities in cognitive disorders and for dog-assisted support in different types of medical interventions. However, the majority of studied outcome measures showed no significant effect.
Highlights
Dogs are the most common companion animal, and not surprisingly a popular choice for animal-assisted interventions
Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) usually consists of three subcategories; Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), AnimalAssisted Education (AAE) and Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA)
In our review we have identified another relevant subcategory to Dog-Assisted Interventions (DAI), namely Dog-Assisted Support (DAS)
Summary
Dogs are the most common companion animal, and not surprisingly a popular choice for animal-assisted interventions. Animal-Assisted Interventions (AAI) are more or less goal oriented and structured interventions that intentionally incorporate animals in health, education and human service for the purpose of therapeutic gains and improved health and wellness [2]. AAI usually consists of three subcategories; Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), AnimalAssisted Education (AAE) and Animal-Assisted Activities (AAA) These concepts are defined in a slightly different way by various organizations. According to the IAHAIO definition, AAA is a “planned and goal oriented informal interaction and visitation conducted by the human-animal team for motivational, educational and recreational purposes. Human-animal teams must have received at least introductory training, preparation and assessment to participate in informal visitations.” [3] Another difference between AAT and AAA seems to be the purpose, which is more focused on wellbeing in AAA and on health improvement in AAT.
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