Therapeutic effects of dog visits in nursing homes for the elderly

Abstract

Background: Previous studies have suggested that visiting dogs can have positive effects on elderly people in nursing homes. We wanted to study the effects of biweekly dog visits on sleep patterns and the psychiatric wellbeing of elderly people. Methods: A total of 100 residents (median age: 85.5 years; [79; 90]) from four nursing homes were randomly assigned to receive biweekly visits for 6 weeks from a person accompanied by either a dog, a robot seal (PARO), or a soft toy cat. Sleep patterns were measured using actigraphy technology before, during (the third and sixth week), and after the series of visits. The participants were weighed and scored on the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale, and the Mini-Mental State Examination before and after the visit period. Results: We found that sleep duration (min) increased in the third week when visitors were accompanied by a dog rather than the robot seal or soft toy cat (dog: 610 1 127 min; seal: 498 1 146 min; cat: 540 1 163 min; F 2,37 = 4.99; P = 0.01). No effects were found in the sixth week or after the visit period had ended. We found that visit type had no effect on weight (F 2,88 = 0.13; P > 0.05), body mass index (F 2,86 = 0.33; P > 0.05), Geriatric Depression Scale (F 2,82 = 0.85; P > 0.05), Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale (F2,90 = 0.41; P > 0.05), or Mini-Mental State Examination (F 2,91 = 0.35; P > 0.05). Furthermore, we found a decrease in the Geriatric Depression Scale during the experimental period (S = −420; P < 0.05), whereas cognitive impairment worsened as shown by a decrease in Mini-Mental State Examination score (S = −483; P < 0.05) and an increase in the Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale (t = 2.06; P < 0.05). Conclusion: Visit type did not affect the long-term mental state of the participants. The causal relationship between sleep duration and dogaccompanied visits remains to be explored.

Patient benefit of dog-assisted interventions in health care: a systematic review

“…Studies on cognitive disorders dominated the selected studies [38–44]. In four studies the patient conditions were psychiatric disorders, of which three included children or adolescents with psychiatric disorders and one included patients cared for in institutions due to psychiatric disorders [45–48].…”

“…In the study by Thodberg et al the controls were either a visit from a person bringing a robot seal or a visit from a person bringing a soft-toy cat [44]. In the study by Bono et al the control group received no active intervention [41].…”

“…Seven trials studied cognitive disorders and were all categorized as DAA [38–44]. They differed in terms of patient population severity, which varied from mild cognitive impairment to severe dementia.…”

“…In Friedman et al, Thodberg et al and Lutwack et al the control group participants were given another structured intervention [38, 42, 44]. In Majic et al, Olsen et al and Travers et al the control group was treated as usual [39, 40, 43].…”

“…In Thodberg et al the sessions lasted only 10 min and the control group were activated with a robot seal or a soft toy cat. They found no effect in measures of depression [44]. Also in Lutwack et al the patients only received short sessions, the results showed no effect in measures of depression but a significant improvement in mood for those receiving visits from a therapy dog [38].…”