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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to know the professional animal assisted therapy training and practicing
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to know the effectiveness of the animal assisted therapy on the elderly with dementia in nursing homes
Methods: Based on the concept of animal assisted therapy(AAT), this program included two stages. Based on a quasi-experimental research design, 58 elder residents with dementia in nursing homes participated in this program. Participants were divided into experimental (E group) and control group (C group) equally. 16 times of designed “Therapeutic Dog” program was applied into E group, while regular living activity was applied into C group, during two months. The Multidimensional Observation Scale of Elderly Subjects (MOSES), Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) and the individual therapeutic goal (ITG) were used for evaluating the effectiveness of this program.
Results: The results reveal: 1) both groups had improvement in MOSES and CMAI, but no statistical significant; 2) E group had significantly improvement in the individual therapeutic goal fields of oral expression, movement, memory and socialization; 3) the best improvement held in the field of “socialization”, especially “keeping focusing on an activity” (p<.0001), while the improvement of “oral expression” was the second, especially “focusing on the same topic” (p<.0001).
Conclusion: The canine AAT activities have significant benefits for dementia elders on the fields of oral expression, movement, memory and socialization, especially on keeping longer focusing on an activity, and reducing repeated negative behaviors.
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