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Patient & staff perceptions of animal-assisted therapy in psychiatric rehabilitation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 June 2021

Laura Sallette*
Affiliation:
Heather Close Rehabilitation Unit, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation trust
David King
Affiliation:
King's college london
Sian Cowton-Williams
Affiliation:
Heather Close Rehabilitation Unit, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation trust
Rajesh Mohan
Affiliation:
Heather Close Rehabilitation Unit, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation trust
*
*corresponding author.
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Abstract

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Aims

To study patients' subjective experiences of having access to a therapy dog and to assess the staff perception of the impact of pet therapy. Hypothesis: pet therapy services are acceptable for rehabilitation patients.

Background

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is the supervised use of an animal in a therapeutic setting to help in the treatment of physical or psychological disorders in humans. The use of dogs in the context of AAT - ‘dog therapy’ (DT) - has been piloted in the context of stroke rehabilitation; schizophrenia in elderly patients; depression, loneliness and anxiety in elderly patients; Alzheimer's disease; symptom reduction in PTSD; cognitive impairment; and dementia. The impact of pet therapy in long term psychosis care has not been adequately assessed.

Method

This feasibility pilot study used questionnaires to assess patient (n = 12) and staff (n = 10) perceptions of dog therapy in an in-patient psychiatric rehabilitation setting. 24 patients on a rehabilitation ward with complex psychosis were offered the opportunity to interact with ‘Nugget,’ a corgi trained in the United States as a ‘therapy dog.’ A ‘patient questionnaire’ (PQ) and a ‘staff questionnaire’ (SQ) assessed the acceptability and self-rated benefits of the intervention.

Result

All patients (100%) rated highly on the enjoyment, anxiety, calmness, and comfort domains during the dog therapy, and expressed willingness to receive further sessions in the future. The SQ measured staff perceptions of patients’ engagement, enjoyment, comfort and emotional response to the therapy. 100% of staff rated highly on all questions and thought the interventions had recovery value. Engagement was one key factor noted in the feedback. There were no reported adverse reactions to the intervention.

Conclusion

Our preliminary results showed high acceptability and perceived value for Animal assisted therapy in a psychiatric rehabilitation setting. Given the impact of social isolation and need for connectedness, we recommend access to pet therapy where possible to be integrated into individual recovery programmes.

Type
Quality Improvement
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists
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