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Dog-assisted therapy for older people with dementia
— a review |
| Author(s) | Jacqueline Perkins, Helen Bartlett, Catherine Travers |
| Journal title | Australasian Journal on Ageing, vol 27, no 4, December 2008 |
| Publisher | Blackwell Publishing, December 2008 |
| Pages | pp 177-182 |
| Source | http://www.cota.org.au / http://www.blackwellpublishingasia.com |
| Keywords | Dogs [pets] ; Dementia ; Residents [care homes] ; Nursing homes ; Therapy ; Literature reviews. |
| Annotation | This review summarises and critiques the published literature regarding dog therapy for older people with dementia living in residential aged care facilities. Nine studies were identified for inclusion; and although the methodological variability of studies makes it difficult to draw firm conclusions, research suggests that dog therapy is beneficial for people with dementia. The most frequently reported findings were an increase in social behaviour and a decrease in agitated behaviour during dog contact. Improvement in social behaviour was found to be unrelated to the severity of dementia. Various improvements or measures of global functions were also reported. No study adopted randomised controlled trial (RCT) design, and a number of potentially important factors were not controlled for, including halo effects of animals on caregivers that may bias caregivers' responses when acting as proxies for their relatives or residents. The premorbid relationship with dogs may be an important variable influencing outcomes. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-090601211 A |
| Classmark | HVTD: EA: KX: LHB: LO: 64A |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |