Aging, Dementia
Conditions
Keywords
Animal-assisted therapy, visiting dog, non-pharmacological, nursing home
Brief summary
The aim of this project is to study how an the intensity of dog contact during dog visits in nursing homes can affect the immediate response to, and the general effect of the visits, and whether the residents' level of cognitive impairment affects the response and benefit of dog visits. The participants are randomly assigned to receive one type of visits (12 visits in total) out of three possible visit types (1: visit with a dog; 2: visit with a dog, including a planned activity, 3 visit without a dog, including a planned activity). The residents received 2 visits per week for 6 weeks. The behaviour of the participants during visits is recorded. Before and after the intervention period, participants are scores on psychometric scales for cognitive impairment level, daily function level and symptoms of depression.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALDog visit
An visitor visits the participant with a dog
BEHAVIORALEncourage to engage in activity
In each visit the visitor invites the participant to engage in an activitty
Sponsors
University of Aarhus
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
The design of the study is a stratified and randomized complete block design. Each nursing home is a block. The participants are allocated randomly to one of the three visit types (1) Visits with a dog, no activity (D); 2) Visits with a dog, with activity (DA); or 3) Visits without dog, with an activity (A), balancing for the level of cognitive impairment, measured by the MMSE-scale. This was achieved by ranking the participants according to MMSE score within sex and allocating them to the three visit types by using different numerical orders in each nursing home (1, 2, 3; 3, 1, 2; 2, 3, 1 etc.).
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
60 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
• Being able to sit up during the visits
Exclusion criteria
* Dog allergy * Fear of dogs * Health problems that make participation unadvisable
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioural response during visits | Behaviour is recorded in all of the 12 visits in the 6 week intervention period | The behaviour of the residents is recorded by direct observation using continuous recording. In all visits, the frequency and duration of talk and physical contact to the persons present are recorded. Talk is classified into talk about the dog and/or activity, depending on the visit type. In visits with dogs (D, DA), the frequency and duration of physical contact and talk directed to the dog are recorded, and in visits involving an activity (DA, A), the frequency and duration of the residents' involvement in the activity are recorded. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Cognitive impairment level, before intervention | This measure is obtained in the week preceeding the intervention period (6 weeks, 2 visits ) | All participants were scored on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which gives information about the participants' cognitive status.The MMSE score has a minimum and maximum value of 0 and 30, respectively. The lower the score, the more severe the cognitively impairment level. |
| Symptoms of depression, before intervention | This measure is obtained in the week preceeding the intervention period (6 weeks, 2 visits ) | All participants were scored on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), to screen for symptoms of depression. The GDS score has a minimum and maximum value of 0 and 15, respectively.A high score indicates more symptoms of depression. |
| Daily function level, before intervention | This measure is obtained in the week preceeding the intervention period (6 weeks, 2 visits ) | All participants were scored on The Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale (GBS), which is an evaluation of disabilities, language, psychiatric symptoms, average daily living function, and behaviour of the participants. The GBS score has a minimum and maximum value of 0 and 156, respectively. The lower the score, the more well-functioning the patient. |
| Daily function level,, after intervention | This measure is obtained in the week following the intervention period (6 weeks, 2 visits ) | All participants were scored on The Gottfries-Bråne-Steen Scale (GBS), which is an evaluation of disabilities, language, psychiatric symptoms, average daily living function, and behaviour of the participants. The GBS score has a minimum and maximum value of 0 and 156, respectively. The lower the score, the more well-functioning the patient. |
| Symptoms of depression, after intervention | This measure is obtained in the week following the intervention period (6 weeks, 2 visits ) | All participants were scored on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), to screen for symptoms of depression. The GDS score has a minimum and maximum value of 0 and 15, respectively.A high score indicates more symptoms of depression. |
| Cognitive impairment level, after intervention | This measure is obtained in the week following the intervention period (6 weeks, 2 visits ) | All participants were scored on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), which gives information about the participants' cognitive status. The MMSE score has a minimum and maximum value of 0 and 30, respectively. The lower the score, the more severe the cognitively impairment level. |
Outcome results
None listed