Relationship of Behavioral Interactions during an Animal-assisted Intervention in Assisted Living to Health-related Outcomes

Abstract

In recent research involving assisted-living residents with mild to moderate cognitive impairment, a structured 12-week Pet Assisted Living (PAL) intervention led to improved physical activity (PA) and mood. Receipt of intervention is important to the efficacy of behavioral interventions. We assessed the behavioral interactions (BIs: looking at, talking to, touching, giving treats to, brushing, and walking the dog) of residents during PAL intervention sessions and evaluated their relationships to changes in PA and mood. Residents with mild to moderate cognitive impairment in seven small assisted-living facilities were randomized by facility to the 12-week PAL or reminiscing interventions. Outcomes included PA and mood. PA was assessed monthly with 24-hour actigraph and Barthel Index, and mood was assessed with the Cornell Scale for Depression in Dementia. Residents of four facilities (n = 22) received the PAL intervention which included biweekly activities designed to encourage maintenance or improvement of PA and mood. During each PAL session, participants' engagement in each BI was noted. Engagement in BIs varied between residents and over sessions. BIs were not correlated with degree of cognitive impairment. In linear mixed models, the more participants walked the dog the more their PA changed, and the more participants looked at the dog the more their moods changed (ps < 0.05). Participants varied in their engagement in BIs. Two specific BIs were related to improvements in PA and mood. Finer assessment of BIs during animal-assisted interventions may enable understanding of their relationships to specific outcomes.

Dog visits in nursing homes – increase complexity or keep it simple? A randomised controlled study

“…Some previous studies of dog visits in nursing homes have also included observations of nursing home residents’ immediate behavioural responses; however, mostly during group interventions, employing less detailed behaviour sampling methods and addressing different research questions [ 19 – 22 , 34 – 37 ]. Some of these found that dog visits, as opposed to visits without dogs, stimulate the residents to interact more with other persons during group sessions [ 19 , 21 , 37 ], whereas Kramer et al (2009) [ 34 ] did not find this effect.…”

“…Visits, where an animal-like alternative–the robotic seal Paro–was brought along, also stimulate residents to touch, to make conversation and establish eye contact, but compared to the stimulation of the real dog it was less persistent over a series of 12 visits, presumably because a real dog provide more means of interaction and feedback. A few other studies of dog visits to groups of residents also found that the presence of a dog during visits stimulates social interaction, but the group settings used in these studies make it difficult to isolate the specific effect of dog contact [ 19 – 22 ].…”

“…In our previous study, we found that more severely impaired persons prefer to interact with an animal–dog, robot seal or toy cat–instead of a human during visits, whereas the opposite was found for the more well-functioning residents, probably due to the more non-demanding nature of the non-human interaction [ 18 ]. Only two other studies have looked at whether cognitive impairment affects nursing home residents’ immediate response to dog visits [ 20 , 22 ]. One study of dog visits in a group setting found that participants living in nursing homes, where the majority were assessed to have severe dementia, look less at activities with the dog and sleep more during the interventions, compared to participants who lived on their own and suffered from moderate or mild dementia [ 20 ].…”

“…One study of dog visits in a group setting found that participants living in nursing homes, where the majority were assessed to have severe dementia, look less at activities with the dog and sleep more during the interventions, compared to participants who lived on their own and suffered from moderate or mild dementia [ 20 ]. Friedman et al (2019) [ 22 ] report no association between impairment level and recorded behaviour during dog visits in groups.…”

Future Directions for Research on Human–Animal Interaction in an Aging Population

“…In Krauss-Parello et al's review (2019), the potential confounding impact of the human handler on study outcomes is considered. (Friedmann et al (2019) in their research address this methodological weakness by including an equally matched attention control group.) Gee and Mueller (2019) present a systematic review of the evidence in HAI and aging with a focus on the different outcomes based on pet ownership or pet interaction.…”