INTRODUCTION:
The US Census in 2000 has reported that, during the late 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century there has been a large increase in the number of elderly people living in the United States of America, which will likely result in an increased incidence of dementia. In recent years, dog-assisted therapy has been widely regarded as a generally accepted method of providing elderly residents with good feelings and an increase in self-maintenance behavior. The aim of this study is to examine the psychological and behavioral effects of dog-assisted therapy on elderly residents with dementia. I predict that dog-assisted therapy will help elderly people with dementia with their behavioral and emotional problems such as aggression, agitation and psychosis.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Several studies have examined the effects of dog ownership on people's physical and mental health. Dog ownership produces considerable health benefit and provides social support that encourages dog owners to walk (Cutt et al.2007 ). Pet owners appear to have lower systolic blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels(Anderson et al 1992). Pet owners with serious mental illness living in the community demonstrate higher social community integration(Zimalog and Krupa 2009). Socially excluded participants who performed in the presence of a dog report higher mental well-being compared with socially excluded participants who did not work in the presence of a dog (Nilüfer et al 2012). Although there is evidence suggesting that dog ownership can improve people's physical and mental health, there is little research documenting the psychological and behavioral effects of dog-assisted therapy, especially on elderly patients with dementia, who have dif...
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...an-use-pet-therapy-to-care-for-their-loved-one/ Cutt, Hayley, Billie Giles-Corti, Matthew Knuiman, Valerie Burke. “Dog Ownership, Health and PhysicalActivity:ACritical Review of the Literature.” Health & Place 13.1 (2007): 261-272.
Nilüfer Aydina,Joachim I. Kruegerb, Julia Fischera, Dana Hahna, Andreas Kastenmüllerc,
Dieter Freya, Peter Fischer “Man's Best Friend: How the Presence of a Dog Reduces Mental
Distress After Social Exclusion.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 48.1 (2012): 446-449.
Vann Madeline “How Animal Therapy Helps Dementia Patients” Everyday Health Blog, (2010).
http://www.everydayhealth.com/alzheimers/how-animal-therapy-helps-dementia-patient s.asp Zimolag, Ulrike and Terry Krupa. “Pet Ownership as a Meaningful Community Occupation for People with Serious Mental Illness.” American Journal of Occupational Therapy 63.2
(2009): 126-137.
Would you like to live a happy and productive life? Then get pets! I must admit it is hard to believe that domesticated animals can promote mental and physical health, but many studies have shown that they can. On the other hand, you must find a pet that is compatible with you or with your life style. Maintaining good mental health is crucial for living a "normal" life.
Most people are familiar with service dogs and have seen them in action. Animal-assisted therapy is similar service animals in that an animal-human healing partnership is being created. However, the difference is that therapy pets are typically used to treat a mental disability whereas people with physical disabilities use service dogs to help them in many ways. Therapy animals are used in a wide variety of places, such as, hospitals, prisons, nursing homes, therapy sessions, mental healthcare facilities, and even in people’s homes. These amazing animals are used on a wide variety of different disorders, but they are utilized mostly by people suffering from depression, anxiety, and PTSD. For people with these mental health disorders, everything in live can be difficult and challenging, however with the help of animal-assisted therapy, their mood, motivation, and life can dramatically improve. Anyone who hears about these brave, loving animals soon falls in love with them. From a medical standpoint, there have been many successful studies and the support for animal-assisted therapy still continues to grow in doctors and therapists across the nation.
In addition, Some elderly people have cardiovascular health problems. Cardiovascular problems occur when people get older , peoples heats can’t beat as fast during fiscal activity or stress as when they were younger. Therapy dogs could help “improve cardiovascular health.” (“?”) Service dogs are traind to Perform specific tasks to help mental health patients. People who have taken care of the elderly " have seen elderly with significant dementia who can be aggressive or mean, change their behavior when there is an animal around."
Research has been done in the area of human-animal companionship and security, and stress management. Due to the relative newness of this field and the difficulties in studying it, most research has been concentrated on the elderly, specifically, institutionalized elderly. Pets have been introduced into these settings in order to minimize the negative consequences of institutionalization. Most research has been conducted on the extreme ends of the continuum, either very brief visitation or therapy of resident pets studies (Wrinkler 216).
In the field of therapy, there are numerous of therapy available out there for different type of individuals and situations as well. There is one type of therapy that usually contains people and animal, it is animal-assisted therapy is a therapeutic approach that brings animals and individuals with physical and/or emotional needs together to perform the therapy. Animal-assisted therapy tend to be focused on individuals either children or elderly for them to be able to connect with the animal thus feeling comfortable talking with the therapist. Pet therapy works for all ages, whether sick or not (Lanchnit, 2011). Although, this paper, most of the focus is on animal-assisted therapy towards children using dogs.
Not every term that has been assigned to a dog who performs some sort of work is confusing. For example, if a dog is a seeing eye dog most people know that the dog is used to guide the blind. In more recent years the term psychiatric service dog has become a way of identifying a dog how helps an owner with a psychiatric disorder such as PTSD, traumatic brain injury, or autism. The term therapy is by definition “treatment of a disease or disorder” people argue that any event that causes a positive reaction should be therapy by the by the scientific definition. In addition, it is argued that dog therapy cannot “ethically claim” to be modifying the progression of the disease in any way. Organization responsible for training therapy dogs say that in
Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), which can be provided in a group or individual settings, is designed to promote improvement in a human’s physical, social, emotional, or cognitive function. An article by Chitic, Rusu, and Szamoskozi (2012) provides an analysis in order to determine the value of AAT. Both dogs and horses that were trained for AAT were examined and studied to determine their effectiveness in treating patients with psychological disorders. The results showed that both therapy dogs and horses were valuable aids to the therapeutic process. The analysis suggests that proper training and repeated sessions were necessary for proper treatment of patients. In addition, certain disorders may benefit more than others in regards to AAT. For example, a child with ADHD may not benefit from a therapy dog’s presence, for it may worsen the hyperactive symptoms. On the other hand, a patient with depression may benefit greatly from the same animal (Chitic, Rusu, Szamoskozi, 2012). These findings are a perfect starting point to answering the research question: Do patients who engage in AAT display a betterment in their overall emotional well-being, as well as show improvement in their interpersonal interactions...
Owning a pet can have many physical and mental health benefits. Medical studies show having a pet result's in lower blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and triglyceride levels. Pets have a role in cardiovascular health from lowering blood pressure, and they encourage psychosocial stability in owners, which further reduces the risk of heart disease. In the hectic and fast-paced world we live in today, pets are actually saving our lives. Pets provide an excuse to be active, dogs live an active lifestyle, wanting to play and run around outside. By making us more active and improving our health, dogs often provide a good workout! Instead of sitting on the couch being lazy, dogs are eager to transfer their energy and enthusiasm to the owner benefiting both dog and owner in many ways. Studies show that dogs demonstrate trust and provide comfort to the sick or elderly thus helping people to live longer and to be more positive as they age. Animal owners over 75 years of age have f...
There are many advantages to having a dog as a pet to help mental health. When one does not want to get up and face the day a dog can usually make them happy with their unconditional love and their need for the owner’s attention. A person’s mood is lifted when they go outside to play with their dog since the sun and fresh air wakes them up and makes them a little happier. The sun also has Vitamin D that helps with some mental and physical health issues such as; Depression, cancer, obesity, heart attacks. When one goes outside they are in nature and looking around and being in nature usually makes them calm. Taking a pet dog for a walk gets one up and about. Someone who takes their pet dog for walks gets them into a routine of going for walks or runs and it keeps them physically healthy. This also makes them
I believe animals play an immense role in the health and happiness of the humans around them. Both my experiences and scientific evidence prove truth behind my belief. Ian Cook, MD, a psychiatrist and director of Depression Research and Clinic Program at UCLA, states “Pets offer an unconditional love that can be very helpful to people with depression.”
Many people in the world today suffer with problems such as anxiety and depression. As a way to treat these problems, those people should use animal-assisted therapy. Animal-assisted therapy (also known as pet therapy) is used in many hospitals and is growing more every day.
In fact, pet adoption is one step closer to a healthier life. Petting and taking care of animals can help reduce stress levels. To reduce the possibility of heart disease, you only need to walk or play with your pet for as little as fifteen minutes. Our physical health is not the only type of health that pets benefit us. Studies show how pet owners are more likely to have a healthier mental health than non-pet owners. They are less likely to suffer from depression or anxiety, which often leads to suicidal thoughts and even attempts. Thanks to the accessibility of adoption we can easily be benefitted by the health perks that pets bring to our
From here I went to the streets to look over dog owners and find their perspective about these facts, along with others like better physical fitness, happiness, and just overall positive outlook. According to Rebecca Utz, in her article of Walking the Dog: The Effect of Pet Ownership on Human Health and Health Behaviors, She explains that "Results showed that pet owners, particularly dog and cat owners, had more positive physical health outcomes when compared to non pet owners or those owning other types of pets" (2014, p. 327) in which make...
Would you like to live a happy and productive life? Then get pets! I must admit it is hard to believe that domesticated animals can promote mental and physical health, but many studies have shown that they can. On the other hand, you must find a pet that is compatible with you or with your life style.
Would you like to live a happy and productive life? Then get pets! I must admit it is hard to believe that domesticated animals can promote mental and physical health, but many studies have shown that they can. People who own pets have been known to lead longer and happier lives than those without them. As we get older, we become less active. The more inactive we become, the higher our risk of death. We therefore need something in our lives to keep us busy so we don’t die prematurely, and a pet is just the thing to do it. This is probably because of the companionship, exercise, and responsibility that they provide. On the other hand, you must find a pet that is compatible with you or with your life style. Maintaining good mental health is crucial for living a normal life.