Paper
Thursday, July 22, 2004
The Role of Socialization in the Ability of Animal-Assisted Therapy to Decrease Loneliness in Residents of Long-Term Care Facilities
Marian R. Banks, DNS, Division of Geriatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA and William A. Banks, MD, VA Medical Center, Saint Louis, MO, USA.
| Learning Objective #1: State that animal-assisted therapy (AAT) was effective in decreasing loneliness in residents living in long-term care facilities |
| Learning Objective #2: State that animal-assisted therapy can be used effectively as a nursing intervention in long-term care facilities |
Objective: To determine whether the ability of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) to reduce loneliness in residents of long-term care facilities (LTCF) works by increasing socialization (human-human interactions). Design: A randomized non-blinded design. Population, Sample, Setting, Years: Thirty seven cognitively intact residents from three long-term care facilities (LTCF) between the ages of 65-90 and lonely as measured by the UCLA Loneliness Scale, Version 3 (UCLA-LS) were recruited. Methods and Intervention: Six weeks of AAT on an individual basis (Individual) or in groups of 2-4 (Group) for 30-minute session/week with pre and post-testing with UCLA-LS during week 5. Outcome Variable: Pre, post, and delta (Pre minus Post) scores on the UCLA-LS. Findings: Four residents withdrew from the study, to give n=16 (individual) and n=17 (group). A two-way ANOVA showed a statistically significant effect on Pre vs Post scores: F(1,31)=25.3,p<.001 with no effect of Group vs Individual or of interaction. Newman Keuls showed that the Pre-test scores for individual and group did not differ. There was a significant difference between Pre and Post scores for Individual(p<0.05) but not for Group. There was no difference between the Post values for individual vs group. The delta scores correlated (p<0.01) with pre-test scores, demonstrating that the individuals who were lonelier received a greater benefit from AAT. Conclusions: The ability of AAT to reduce loneliness was not improved, and may have been worse, when administered in a Group setting. Therefore, the main effect of AAT in LTCF is not mediated by increasing socialization among the residents. Implications: AAT reduces loneliness in residents of LTCF but not by increasing socialization.
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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004