Communication For Older Adults Research Articles

“I Want to Send a Message to My Friend”: Exploring the Shift of Agency to Older Adults in HRI

AbstractCommunication among some older adults is affected by cognitive and mobility impairments. This increases isolation, particularly for those residing in care homes, and leads to accelerated cognitive decline. Previous research has leveraged assistive robots to promote recreational routines and communication among older adults, with the robot leading the interaction. However, older adults could have more agency in the interaction, as robots could extend elders’ intentions and needs. Therefore, we explored an approach whereby the robot’s agency is shifted to the older adults who lead the interaction by commanding a robot’s actions using interactive physical blocks (tangible blocks). We conducted sessions with 22 care home dwellers where they could exchange messages and objects using the robot. Based on older adults’ observed behaviors during the sessions and perspectives gathered from interviews with geriatric professionals, we reflect on the opportunities and challenges for increased user agency and the asymmetries that emerged from differing abilities and personality traits. Our qualitative results highlight the potential of robotic approaches to extend the agency and communication of older adults, anchored on human values, such as the exchange of affection, collaboration, and competition.

Basic Analysis of Physical Determinants Affecting the Distribution Density of Senior Citizen Centers around Small Apartment Complexes, Focusing on Administrative Districts in Busan

The role of senior citizen centers is becoming more important, with a greater emphasis placed on ensuring that these establishments facilitate leisure and communication for older adults. These developments are taking place as population aging has now become an irreversible global trend. However, there is still a lack of systematic research on predicting the distribution density of senior citizen centers based on physical factors in urban planning. Therefore, this study set each administrative district in Busan as a unit and investigated physical factors affecting the distribution density of senior citizen centers around small apartment complexes to validate their effectiveness. First, the spatial hierarchy of each administrative district in Busan was examined. The city was divided into administrative districts while focusing on the distribution density of senior citizen centers (the dependent variable) around small apartment complexes where older adults live (within a 500 m radius). The spatial accessibility of senior citizen centers and the number of apartments in each administrative district were set as independent variables. This selection was made to verify the effectiveness of the physical factors by conducting an independent sample t-test, normality test, Friedman test, and two-way ANOVA. The chief findings of this study are as follows. (1) The spatial awareness of each administrative district was low, and there were large disparities in the land development density relative to the spatial scale of the administrative districts. (2) Regarding the physical factors affecting the distribution density of senior citizen centers, the spatial accessibility of senior residences was more significant than the number of small apartment complexes nearby. (3) Personal and social factors may have indirectly influenced the distribution density of senior citizen centers more than physical factors, depending on the type of house in which the older adults live. The findings will provide a theoretical basis for determining the location and distribution density of senior citizen centers in urban planning considering physical factors, as well as serve as a reference for public policy decisions related to the allocation of such centers in the future.

Sow in tears and reap in joy: Eye tracking reveals age-related differences in the cognitive cost of spoken context processing.

Older adults have been found to use context to facilitate word recognition at least as efficiently as young adults. This may pose a conundrum, as context use is based on cognitive resources that are considered to decrease with aging. The goal of this study was to shed light on this question by testing age-related differences in context use and the cognitive demands associated with it. The eye movements of 30 young (21-27 years old) and 30 older adults (61-79 years old) were examined as they listened to spoken instructions to touch an image on a monitor. The predictability of the target word was manipulated between trials: nonpredictive (baseline), predictive (context), or predictive of two images (competition). In tandem, listeners were asked to retain one or four spoken digits (low or high cognitive load) for later recall. Separate analyses were conducted for the preceding sentence and the (final) target word. Sentence processing: Older adults were slower than young adults to accumulate evidence for target-word prediction (context condition), and they were more negatively affected by the increase in cognitive load (context and competition). Target-word recognition: No age-related differences were found in word recognition rate or the effect of cognitive load following predictive context (context and competition). Although older adults have greater difficulty processing context, they can use context to facilitate word recognition as efficiently as young adults. These results provide a better understanding of how cognitive processing changes with aging. They may help develop interventions aimed at improving communication in older adults. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Language Style Matching in Older Couples and Marital Satisfaction

Research on marital communication has focused on nonverbal behaviors (e.g., affect), leaving specific word use relatively unexplored. Recent work, however, suggests that similarity in function words (e.g., articles) may be associated with relational functioning in younger couples. We explored if this language style matching (LSM) also occurred in more established relationships and whether it was related to marital satisfaction within a sample of 64 older adult married couples. Using a dyadic, two-wave, observational research design, our results suggest that LSM is highly prevalent in older couples’ conversations across three different tasks (reminiscence, problem solving, and health support). Only LSM during reminiscence, however, was related to wives’ concurrent marital satisfaction. We considered implications for future research and for potential clinical interventions targeting language and communication in older adults.

Association of Pneumococcal and Influenza Vaccination With Patient-Physician Communication in Older Adults: A Nationwide Cross-sectional Study From the JAGES 2016.

BackgroundIncreasing the coverage of vaccinations recommended by the World Health Organization in the older adult population is an urgent issue, especially in the context of avoiding co-epidemics during the current coronavirus disease 2019 crisis. The aim of this study was to examine factors associated with the quality of perceived patient–physician communication and whether this variable was associated with increased odds of vaccination.MethodsWe used cross-sectional data from the Japan Gerontological Evaluation Study conducted from October 2016 to January 2017. The participants were 22,253 physically and cognitively independent individuals aged 65 or older living in 39 municipalities in Japan. Multilevel logit models were used to estimate the odds of vaccination.ResultsAmong the participants, 40.0% and 58.8% had received pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations as per the recommended schedule, respectively. People with low educational levels were more likely to have a family physician but rate their experience in asking questions lower than those with higher educational levels. Having a family physician and high rating for physicians’ listening attitude were positively associated with increased odds of pneumococcal and influenza vaccinations. High rating for patients’ questioning attitude and shared decision-making, compared to an ambiguous attitude toward medical decision-making, were positively associated with increased odds of pneumococcal vaccination.ConclusionThe results suggest that promotion of having a family physician, better patient–physician communication, and shared decision-making may encourage older adults to undergo recommended vaccinations.

Influencing factors and strategies to support communication between older adults with dementia and caregivers throughout the care trajectory

AbstractBackgroundCommunication is an essential aspect of life and caregiving. However it is often taken for granted although ccommunication between older adults with dementia and their carers is often extremely challenging. Effective communication is essential to provide relationship centered care and tailor care to patients needs.ObjectivesWe aimed to determine factors that influence communication in older adults’ with dementia and their caregivers’ and explored strategies to enhance communication that could be supportive throughout the care trajectory.Design and methodsFactors that impact communication between older adults with dementia and caregivers were determined by using a scoping review and included a thematic analysis of the literature. These determined factors were validated using a large variety of video observations and additional qualitative interviews (n=15). To determine strategies that could be beneficial to improve communication, communication strategies were determined. To determine these strategies existing literature of other expertise areas (including marketing and communication science) was used and think a‐loud sessions with experts were performed.ResultsThe scoping review revealed that factors that can affect caregivers' communication with older adults with dementia relate to the older adult, the caregiver and the context of the caregiving situation / environment, and the interactions between these factors. Observations confirmed that most influencing factors were related to the caregivers including for example non‐verbal behaviour. However contextual factors (e.g. organization of care, and care situation) were less observed although these may offer opportunities to enhance the communication. Strategies identified from other fields (f.i. social psychology and consumer behaviour research) were included for example compliance‐without‐pressure‐techniques.ConclusionsThis study gained important insight into influencing factors on communication between older adults with dementia and their caregivers. Strategies as ‘The‐foot‐in‐the‐door’, verbal mimicry and ‘The illusion of choice’ could support communication throughout the care trajectory and are provide useful insights, which are not always taken into consideration in current practice. This information can be used for developing solid interventions to support communication and enhance relationship centred care in accordance to the older adults needs.

Improving Communication for Older Adults During Disaster Events

Management of any disaster event (i.e., hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, viral pandemic) is a complicated task. An important and frequently overlooked aspect of efficient disaster response is effective information exchange among emergency managers, aging and social service providers, and those impacted by the disaster. Breakdowns in communication are regularly cited as failures in actual emergency situations. Older adults have unique challenges to effective communication during a disaster event. Further, messaging platforms may be inaccessible to older adults. Given the lack of data collected on the role of effective communication for older adults in a disaster event, we developed this symposium to highlight lessons learned for facilitating disaster communication among older community members and discuss how policy can further disaster communication efforts. The first presentation highlights the advantages of using targeted marketing communication channels to encourage older adults to prepare and recover from a disaster, as well as the value of collaborative partnerships in this communication. The second presentation introduces results from research collected from older adults on their use of social media to stay informed before and after Hurricane Matthew. The third presentation explores whether assisted living communities in Florida’s affected counties evacuated or sheltered in place in the context of emergency management communications concerning evacuation. The fourth presentation highlights the experiences of older persons in Houston’s communication post-Hurricane Harvey from an aging service provider’s perspective. The final presentation discusses disaster literacy and how this model can be used to enhance outcomes at all phases of a disaster. Disasters and Older Adults Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

A Conceptual Framework for Engaged Communication at Adult Day Services: A Mixed-Methods Study

Adult Day Services provide an opportunity for social engagement for older adults who might otherwise become isolated. Communication environments at many Adult Day Centers can be difficult for participants due to the high prevalence of hearing loss and poor acoustics in large activity rooms. The purpose of this study is to understand the hearing and social health status of participants across multiple group care settings as well as participants’ challenges and motivations to engage in social communication. A mixed methods approach was undertaken. Seventy-two participants from two Programs for All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE®) completed quantitative measures: hearing test, cognitive screener (MOST™), IOM Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health, UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living. Using maximum variation sampling based on hearing status and UCLA loneliness scores, ten participants were invited to complete one-on-one semi-structure interviews. Interviews aimed to learn more about how and why participants did and/or did not engage in social communication with other PACE participants. Transcripts were coded and thematic analysis was used to identify common barriers and motivations to communication. A conceptual framework was developed by integrating quantitative and qualitative findings to recognize what contributes to meaningful interactions or engaged communication. The findings from this study will contribute to the development of an intervention to address hearing loss and support communication for older adults in group care settings. In order to maximize the potential benefit of attending group-based day services, the communication barriers and motivations of older adults need to be addressed.

Intergenerational Communication as Non-Pharmacological Care in a Japanese Nursing Home

Statistics shows that Japan now has 28.4% of population aged over 65, which marks the highest in the world. Moreover, one in four over 65 is said to have ADRD or MCI. Traditional family caregiving derived from filial piety is giving way to moving to care facilities in order to reduce a burden on children or get professional care. This suggests that everyday communication for older adults involves younger conversational partners with varying degrees of shared knowledge and experiences. Such intergenerational communication can be challenging and stressful on both sides. To date, empirical studies that observe interactional strategies of both younger caregivers and older adults is unknown. Using 21 recordings of weekly conversational activities (45-60 minutes) led by recreation workers (female, 40s) taken at a nursing home in Japan, this qualitative study demonstrates how (1) sharing of the past and present becomes a learning opportunity for both recreation workers and older participants with ADRD (aged 87-95) , (2) reference to nursing-home living establishes and reaffirms their interpersonal relationship, and (3) intergenerational conversation becomes a tool to express life satisfaction for the older participants. This evidence-based study proposes mundane conversations during recreational activities as part of non-pharmacological person-centered care which serves to improve the quality of life and life satisfaction of older adults at care facilities. It is therefore important to study communicative strategies of professional caregivers since they affect social engagement as well as emotional and psychological well-being of those at the end-of-life stage.

Social Media Use and Loneliness Among Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Social Contact and Perceived Social Support

Loneliness is a risk factor for poor quality of life among older adults. Social media use provides a new dimension of communication for older adults to connect with people and to maintain social relationships. However, research has been inconclusive about whether social media use reduces loneliness among older adults, which is due in part to a lack of appropriate measures for capturing different types of social media use. Furthermore, little is known about the underlying mechanisms through which social media use is associated with loneliness. This study investigates the association between social media communication with close social ties and loneliness among community-dwelling older adults (65+), and further examines the mediating role of social contact and social support in the association. Data from the 2014 wave of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) are analyzed to address our research questions (N = 4,184). Path analyses are employed to examine the relationships among social media communication with close social ties (i.e., children, family, and friends), frequency of contact with social ties (i.e., phone, in-person contact, write/email), perceived social support from social ties, and loneliness (R-UCLA loneliness scale). The results show that a higher level of social media communication is associated with lower levels of loneliness through social contact and perceived social support. Moreover, the relationship between social media communication and perceived social support is partially mediated by social contact. These findings suggest that social media communication may be considered an intervention that may reduce loneliness among older people.

Peer-to-Peer Health Communication in Older Adults' Online Communities: Protocol for a Qualitative Netnographic Study and Co-Design Approach.

BackgroundOnline communities provide an environment in which people with similar health concerns can interact and access content that can support the self-management of long-term conditions (LTCs). Recently, the importance of online social networks as sources of health information and social support has been brought into focus with the emergence and widespread societal impacts of COVID-19. Although online communities exist for older adults, little is known about the specific health and self-care topics that older people discuss in such environments and how these relate to users’ support needs and outcomes. A better understanding of users’ needs and peer-to-peer communication in these communities is necessary to inform the design of information and communication technology (ICT) interventions that are relevant to older people and their peer supporters.ObjectiveThis study aims to use a two-phase, web-based ethnographic (netnography) and co-design approach to explore specific health care and self-care topics that older adults discuss in a UK-based online community and how peer supporters respond to these queries with informational and/or social support and engage with stakeholders to define the needs and requirements for new ICT-based interventions capable of reducing social isolation and facilitating LTC self-management support.MethodsThe first phase of the research will involve a qualitative netnographic analysis of posts in discussion forums in a publicly accessible online community. The second phase will involve co-design workshops with health care consumers (ie, older adults and carers) and service providers to determine the needs and requirements for new ICT-based interventions and digital innovations. Constructivist grounded theory will be used in the first phase; in the second phase, the co-design workshops will be audiorecorded and analyzed thematically.ResultsThis research project is in progress. Permission was obtained from the website administrator to use materials from the social media forum; data collection for the first phase began in April 2020. The second phase of the study is expected to begin in late 2020. This study is due to be completed by the end of 2021.ConclusionsThis study is the first, to the best of our knowledge, to combine qualitative netnography with an iterative co-design framework to specify the needs and requirements for new ICT-based interventions. The findings from this study will inform the next phase of the multiphase knowledge translation project and will provide insights into the potential of online peer health communities to reduce social isolation and facilitate chronic illness self-management support and self-care.International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/19834

The right visual field advantage for word processing is stronger in older adults

The human brain is functionally asymmetric. Producing and understanding language, for instance, engages the left hemisphere to a larger extent than the right in most people. Recent research showed that lateralization for auditory word processing increases with age. The present study extends these findings to the visual domain. We measured lateralization for visual word processing with the visual half field task in young (20–30 years) and older participants (70–80 years). The older cohort had a larger right visual field advantage in terms of reaction time (p = .016, dolder adults = 0.16, dyounger adults = 0.13) and accuracy (p = .053, dolder adults = 0.73, dyounger adults = 0.25). This difference was mainly driven by a weaker performance for words presented in the left visual field. Our findings suggest that hemisphere dominance for language increases with aging. Alternatively, the findings could be explained by delayed inter-hemispheric communication in older adults.

\u201cWhatever happens, happens\u201d challenges of end-of-life communication from the perspective of older adults and family caregivers: a Qualitative study

BackgroundEffective communication is integral to the delivery of goal-concordant care for older adults and their family caregivers, and yet, it is uncommon in people with serious illness. This study explores the challenges of integrating end-of-life communication into heart failure management from the perspectives of older adults and family caregivers.MethodsIn a qualitative study of older adults with heart failure and their family caregivers, fourteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 participants in Ontario, Canada. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and thematic analysis was applied to analyze the data.ResultsFour themes were identified in the context of participants’ understanding of illness: 1) trivializing illness-related challenges, 2) positivity in late life, 3) discomfort in having end-of-life conversations, and 4) reluctant to engage despite need. These challenges often intertwine with one another. Most participants had not engaged in end-of-life discussions with their clinicians or family members.ConclusionThe findings provide insights that can inform approaches to integrate end-of-life communication for older adults with serious illness and caregivers. The identified challenges highlight a need for end-of-life communication to occur earlier in illness to be able to support individuals throughout the period of decline. In addition, end-of-life communication should be introduced iteratively for those who may not be ready to engage. Alternative approaches to communication are needed to elicit the challenges that patients and caregivers experience throughout the progression of illness to improve care for people nearing the end of life.

Examining the Validity of the World Health Organization's Long-Standing Hearing Impairment Grading System for Unaided Communication in Age-Related Hearing Loss.

ObjectiveThis review article overviews a presentation at the Hearing Across the Lifespan 2018 Conference, which examined the data from 5 data sets having pure-tone thresholds and functional measures of speech communication from relatively large groups of older adults to evaluate the validity of the long-standing World Health Organization (WHO) hearing impairment (HI) grading system.DesignThis was a review of studies identified from the literature having both pure-tone audiometry and functional measures of speech communication from relatively large samples of older adults.Study sampleThree population or population–sample data sets and 2 clinical data sets were identified and included in the review.ResultsAs the WHO-HI grade progressed from “normal” to “severe” (insufficient data from older adults were available for the “profound” category), each step in this progression led to a significant difference in functional communication relative to all other WHO-HI grades. This was true for self-report measures of speech communication and direct measures of speech recognition in quiet and noise. Cohen's d effect sizes were moderate to very large between each successive step on the WHO-HI grading scale.ConclusionsThe long-standing WHO-HI grading system, developed through expert opinion and adopted by WHO originally in 1991, is validated here with evidence from studies of functional communication in older adults. The WHO-HI grade system is compared to a proposed new WHO-HI grade system that introduces several changes to the grading system.

Gerontology competencies: Construction, consensus and contribution

ABSTRACTThe Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE) in 2014 approved the first integrative “Gerontology Competencies for Undergraduate and Graduate Education”©. This article describes the background, thought development, guiding framework and consensus process for its construction. A modified Delphi method utilizing seven review rounds within three developmental cycles, with gerontology educators from 30 institutions, achieved input and consensus. The comprehensive framework has ten major domains, employs three categories each including multiple selective competencies. Six Category I competencies are essential orientations to gerontology. Four Category II competencies are “interactional” processes of knowing and doing across the field. Category III provides eight selective competencies for sectors where gerontologists may work. From educators’ feedback, gerontology characteristics emerged: multi-system approaches; interdisciplinary; communication of older adults’ “voices” and strengths; research utilization. The discussion includes the contribution of competency-based gerontology to students and aging workforce development as well as next steps, outcome measurement, levelling and accreditation.

Associations of systemic inflammation with frontotemporal functional network connectivity and out-degree social-network size in community-dwelling older adults

Increasing evidence suggests that systemic inflammation adversely affects social experiences and behaviors of older adults by changing the functional state of the brain. In this study, we investigated the relationships among systemic inflammation, functional network connectivity (FNC) of the whole brain, and social-network size using complete social-network data of older adults residing in a Korean village. Sixty-one participants were recruited from the Korean Social Life, Health, and Aging Project (KSHAP). Participants underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. High sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels were measured as an inflammation marker. In-degree and out-degree network sizes were calculated based on the total number of intimate social relationships per participant. We demonstrated that hs-CRP levels were associated with decreased frontotemporal FNC. Stronger frontotemporal FNC was significantly correlated with a larger out-degree network size, suggesting that impaired frontotemporal communication in older adults decreases perceived social connectedness with other people. An exploratory mediation analysis supported the observation that increased systemic inflammation contributes to reduced out-degree social-network size among older adults by changing frontotemporal FNC. The present findings provide meaningful insight into the complex relationship between systemic inflammation and social quality of life.

Impact of Hearing Loss on Patient-Provider Communication Among Hospitalized Patients: A Systematic Review.

Age-related hearing loss is a highly prevalent chronic condition in older adults, but hearing loss is rarely accounted for in patient-provider communication studies. This systematic review synthesizes current evidence on the impact of age-related hearing loss on patient-provider communication in hospitalized older adults. Five databases were queried to identify original research that examined patient-provider communication in older adults with hearing loss in an inpatient setting. Of 1053 studies, 13 were included in the final review. All studies reported an adverse effect of hearing loss on patient-provider communication. Among studies that evaluated an intervention to improve communication in older adults with hearing loss, simple interventions such as low-cost voice amplifiers were found to improve communication. An understanding of the effect of hearing loss on patient-provider communication and strategies to mitigate the impact are needed in order to provide safe, quality, patient-centered care to older adults with hearing loss.

Assistive technology for communication of older adults: a systematic review

ABSTRACTObjective: Describe the use of assistive technology to enhance communication opportunities for older adults.Methods: A systematic review was conducted in two databases, PubMed and Web of Science, by using two different searches in each. The search was limited to original articles, in English language, including people aged 60 years and older that used any type of assistive technology for communication. The articles found in the initial search were filtered by title, abstracts and the remaining articles were fully read.Results: Eighteen studies were included in this review after the reading of full-texts. Most of the studies included apparently healthy participants with communication limitations due to aging related changes and the others included people with some pathology that prevent them from normal communication.Conclusion: Four categories of assistive technology were identified: assistive technology for people with speech problems; robot or videoconferencing systems; Information and Communication Technologies and, other types of assistive technology for communication, such as hearing aids and scrapbooks. Assistive technology for communication of older adults is not only used by people with disabilities that prevent them from usual communication. They are mostly for older adults without a pathological communication problem.

Speech communication in older adults: an acoustic and perceptual investigation – ESRC

Speech communication can be difficult for older people, due to the combined effects of age-related hearing loss, which is common over the age of 65, age-related decline in the quality of phonation and speech articulation, and cognitive problems such as poorer short-term memory and processing speed. Past studies of how older individuals perceive and produce speech sounds have tended to consider these abilities independently of each other using controlled materials, such as read words or sentences. These studies tell us little about how older speakers function when using speech for communicative purposes, and how these various factors interact. In our project, we gained a comprehensive account of older people's speech production and perception in situations involving communication with another individual. Older adults with age-related hearing loss and the rarer group of older adults with normal hearing were included in the study, as well as younger adult controls. In Study 1, participants were recorded while they completed a problem-solving task with another person. Communication between the participants was either in good listening conditions, where both speakers could hear each other normally, or in adverse conditions. There, one of the participants had to get their message across to another speaker who has a simulated hearing loss or when both were speaking in a noisy background. These comparisons enabled us to get a sense of the degree to which an older person is able to adapt their speech to overcome difficult listening conditions, a skill which is of paramount importance in speech communication in everyday life. High-quality recordings were made of these interactions and these were used to carry out acoustic analyses of their speech and also analyses of interactional features such as eye gaze and turn-taking. In Study 2, older and younger listeners with normal and impaired hearing were presented some of the materials recorded in Study 1 in good and adverse listening conditions. Intelligibility tests will be run to see what impact age and hearing status have on speech understanding and to see whether the 'clear speech' adaptations made by older speakers to counter the effects of poor communication conditions gave the same benefit to that of younger speakers. This project aims to lead to a better understanding of the effects of ageing on speech communication and of the various contributing factors to potentially degraded speech communication in a population of 'healthy aged' individuals. These benchmarks will be of use for practitioners such as speech and language therapists and audiologists who work on aspects of communication with older people who have health complications. A better understanding of communication difficulties that older individuals experience and of their strategies to overcome these difficulties also assists professionals such as social workers and care professionals who work to improve quality of life for older people, as well as developers of speech technology devices for telemedicine and remote monitoring. Importantly, this research also contributes to our basic understanding of speech perception and production development across the lifespan.

The feasibility of brief dog-assisted therapy on university students stress levels: the PAwS study

Background: Pet therapy is becoming increasingly popular and is used in a variety of ways from encouraging communication in older adults to improving wellbeing in those with serious mental illness. Increasingly Universities have been offering pet therapy to students in an effort to reduce stress. However, little evidence currently exists to support the effectiveness of reducing measurable stress levels after a standalone drop-in unstructured session. The University of Sheffield’s Counselling Service works in partnership with Guide Dogs for the Blind to give students access to calm, well-trained animals for informal group stress relief.Aims: To assess the feasibility of implementing and evaluating unstructured group interventions with a Guide Dog in training within the university student population.Methods: One hundred and thirty-one students who attended pet therapy at the University Counselling Service were recruited on a voluntary basis to take part in the research. Stress, measured on the state trait anxiety inventory, and blood pressure were taken before and after a 15-min intervention.Results: All measures showed a statistically significant reduction immediately after the intervention.Conclusion: Short interactions with a Guide Dog in training appear to reduce stress in University students. A controlled study is required to investigate further.