Abstract
Purpose of the study was to examine if animal-assisted activity with a dog (AAA) in home-dwelling persons with dementia (PWDs) attending day-care centers would have an effect on factors related to risk of fall accidents, with balance (Berg balance scale) and quality of life (Quality of Life in Late-stage Dementia) as main outcome. The project was conducted as a prospective and cluster-randomized multicenter trial with a follow-up. 16 adapted day-care centers recruited respectively 42 (intervention group) and 38 (control group with treatment as usual) home-dwelling PWDs. The intervention consisted of 30 min sessions with AAA led by a qualified dog handler twice a week for 12 weeks in groups of 3–7 participants. The significant positive effect on balance indicates that AAA might work as a multifactorial intervention in dementia care and have useful clinical implication by affecting risk of fall.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 284-291 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Geriatric Nursing |
| Volume | 37 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2016 |
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Keywords
- Adult Day Care Centers
- Aged
- Aged, 80 and over
- Animal Assisted Therapy/methods
- Animals
- Dementia/therapy
- Depression/prevention & control
- Dogs
- Female
- Humans
- Independent Living/psychology
- Male
- Quality of Life/psychology