Humans and dogs have lived among each other in mutually beneficial relationships for thousands of years. In recent years, this human-animal bond has emerged as a catalyst for animal-assisted activities and therapies that may benefit those with disabilities, including children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). ASD are characterized by qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The nonverbal and nonjudgmental nature of dogs may be non-threatening and easier for children with ASD to decode, which may decrease anxiety and facilitate social bonding. Further, with their roles as social lubricants/transitional objects and natural foci of interest, dogs may facilitate social interaction between children with ASD and other people. Using a single case, multiple baseline design across participants, this study investigated whether multiple semi-structured interactions with dogs would increase social and communicative behaviors and decrease restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior in children. Although only two had statistically significant results, all three participants showed responses to intervention in the hypothesized directions. This study supports the position that children with ASD may benefit from participating in animal-assisted activities with dogs.

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Children diagnosed and treated for cancer experience a profound life-transformation as they are confronted with unprecedented physical, psychosocial and emotional challenges. Children’s experience of diagnosis and treatment is often accompanied by a lack of participation and reduced control. Extensive research has been conducted on a variety of supportive interventions. Only a limited amount of research, however, has investigated the potential of animal-assisted activities (AAAs) to afford specialised support for the child hospitalised with cancer. Moreover, of this limited research, few studies explore AAAs in relation to participation and control. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how participation and control are experienced during animal-assisted activities by children hospitalised with cancer. Paediatric oncology patients between the ages of 8 and 14 with any type of cancer were offered the opportunity to participate in the study, which comprised of animal-assisted activities at the facility where patients received their medical care. Five children were included in the final sample. Data were gathered by means of non-participant observations, participant interviews, graphic questionnaires and field notes. Data were then analysed in accordance with steps proposed by Tesch (1990: 142-145), which involved coding according to categories and related themes. Five major themes emerged, including (1) approach to animals, (2) body awareness, (3) level of engagement, (4) level of dependence and (5) communication. Nine sub-themes were derived from data analysis. Under “approach to animals”, the sub-themes were (i) taking the lead, (ii) grooming and affection and (iii) laughter and spontaneity. The sub-themes of “body awareness” were (iv) protection of body and (v) comfort. The sub-themes of “level of engagement” were (vi) initiative and (vii) choice. Finally, the sub-themes of “communication” were (viii) verbal communication and (ix) non-verbal communication. The study provides insight into the participation and control experienced during animal-assisted activities by children hospitalised with cancer. When the initial and final AAA sessions were compared, changes were noted in terms of the children’s approaches to the dog, their body awareness, their level of engagement, their level of dependence and their communication. These changes are associated with an enhanced sense of participation and control, aspects that are often reported to be diminished in children who are diagnosed, treated and hospitalised with cancer. AAAs should therefore be considered an effective means of supporting children hospitalised with cancer. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Children diagnosed and treated for cancer experience a profound life-transformation as they are confronted with unprecedented physical, psychosocial and emotional challenges. Children’s experience of diagnosis and treatment is often accompanied by a lack of participation and reduced control. Extensive research has been conducted on a variety of supportive interventions. Only a limited amount of research, however, has investigated the potential of animal-assisted activities (AAAs) to afford specialised support for the child hospitalised with cancer. Moreover, of this limited research, few studies explore AAAs in relation to participation and control. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe how participation and control are experienced during animal-assisted activities by children hospitalised with cancer. Paediatric oncology patients between the ages of 8 and 14 with any type of cancer were offered the opportunity to participate in the study, which comprised of animal-assisted activities at the facility where patients received their medical care. Five children were included in the final sample. Data were gathered by means of non-participant observations, participant interviews, graphic questionnaires and field notes. Data were then analysed in accordance with steps proposed by Tesch (1990: 142-145), which involved coding according to categories and related themes. Five major themes emerged, including (1) approach to animals, (2) body awareness, (3) level of engagement, (4) level of dependence and (5) communication. Nine sub-themes were derived from data analysis. Under “approach to animals”, the sub-themes were (i) taking the lead, (ii) grooming and affection and (iii) laughter and spontaneity. The sub-themes of “body awareness” were (iv) protection of body and (v) comfort. The sub-themes of “level of engagement” were (vi) initiative and (vii) choice. Finally, the sub-themes of “communication” were (viii) verbal communication and (ix) non-verbal communication. The study provides insight into the participation and control experienced during animal-assisted activities by children hospitalised with cancer. When the initial and final AAA sessions were compared, changes were noted in terms of the children’s approaches to the dog, their body awareness, their level of engagement, their level of dependence and their communication. These changes are associated with an enhanced sense of participation and control, aspects that are often reported to be diminished in children who are diagnosed, treated and hospitalised with cancer. AAAs should therefore be considered an effective means of supporting children hospitalised with cancer. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Bakgrund: Bandet mellan hund och människa har visat sig vara betydelsefullt och det har redan tidigt visats att de har hälsofrämjande effekter på människor. Sjuksköterskans roll innefattar att främja hälsa och om hundar kan göra detta så talar det för att det finns utrymme för dem att användas i vården. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturöversikt är att undersöka hur hundar kan användas i vården och vilka effekter de har på patienter. Metod: Denna studie är utformad som en litteraturöversikt. Författarna har sökt efter vetenskapliga artiklar som svarar på syftet via databaserna Cinahl COMPLETE och PubMed. Författarna valde tolv artiklar till resultatet som analyserades genom att författarna läste dem både separat och gemensamt samt identifierade teman och subteman. Resultat: Analysen avseende användning av hundar i vården resulterade i två teman: Aktivitet och Närvaro. Temat Aktivitet beskriver hur hundar används i aktiviteter som är specifikt utformade för ett syfte. Temat Närvaro beskriver hur man har använt hundar som sällskap, där aktiviteten inte varit styrd men man har sett fördelar med bara hundens närvaro. Analysen avseende effekten hundar i vården har på patienter resulterade i tre teman: Fysisk hälsa, Psykisk hälsa samt Patientdeltagande. Dessa beskriver effekter som hundarna har haft på patienter. Dessa har uteslutande varit positiva. Diskussion: Litteraturöversiktens styrkor och svagheter med tillvägagångssättet i metoden diskuteras under Metoddiskussion. Under Resultatdiskussion diskuteras resultaten som har varit övervägande positiva för användningen av hundar i vården men i vissa fall var resultatet svagt. / Background:The bond between humans and dogs has shown to be important. Early studies have shown that they have health-promoting benefits on humans. The nurse’s role includes promoting health and if dogs can do so then that would suggest that we should use them in clinical care. Aim: The aim of this literature review is to investigate how dogs can be used in clinical care and what effects they have on patients. Method: This study was designed as a literature review. The authors searched for scientific articles which addressed the aim of the study, by using the databases Cinahl COMPLETE and PubMed. The contents of the articles were then analysed by reading them both individually and jointly and themes and subthemes were identified. Results: The analysis regarding the use of dogs in clinical care resulted in two themes: Activity and Presence. The theme Activity describes how dogs were used to carry out activities that were specifically designed for a particular purpose. The theme Presence describes how dogs have been used as company, where the activities were not particularly structured but the dogs had a positive impact just by being present. The analysis regarding the effect dogs in clinical care have on patients resulted in three themes: Physical health, Psychological health and Participation. These describe the effects that the dogs have had on patients. These were exclusively positive. Discussion: The strengths and weaknesses of the method of this review are discussed in the section Method discussion. In the section Results discussion, the results are discussed. They have been primarily positive to the use of dogs in clinical care; however, in some cases the results were faint.

The thesis titled "Use of animal assisted therapy for the hospitalized children" deals with the theoretical background of animal assisted therapy as a supporting method in complex rehabilitation and its practical use during the visits of volunteers with their dogs and its influence to the health of children in hospital care. In the available literature are often described the positive effects of the animal assisted therapy onto the mental and physical condition of the person, the impact on improving communication as well as other factors in the social life of the client. The main focuse of my work is whether these effects can be observed (noticed) even in the short term or even after a single visit of the dog. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, I have tried to describe this impact and possibly uncover additional benefits that can be attributed to the visits of the volunteers with a dog at pediatric hospital.

The aim of my thesis " Comparison of the Motivation and Professional Background of the Various Forms of Animal Assisted Activities" is to determine through literature, opinions of therapists and observation to determine what is the motivation, professional background and time demand to all forms of therapy. The first part focuses on the cross-section of views of the theoretical literature focusing on animal assisted activities. Here I describe the differences between different forms of animal assisted activities and I also deal with ethology of dogs. In the second part I find out through interviews and observations, I find actual evidence from animal assisted activities and I specifically discuss the use of animal assisted activities on the first grade of primary school. At the end of the thesis I summarize insights from observations, processed interviews and also from my own experience and I evaluate usage of animal assisted activities on the first grade of primary school.

Bakgrund   Psykisk ohälsa kan drabba alla människor i alla åldrar, varaktigheten och svårighetsgraden är varierande för varje enskild individ. År 2020 uppgav 41 procent av befolkningen i Sverige att de någon gång upplevt känslan av oro, ångest eller ängslan. Ångest är ett av de vanligaste tillstånden inom psykisk ohälsa, behandling av ångest sker vanligtvis med hjälp av olika medicinska behandlingar alternativt med omvårdnadsåtgärder i form av samtalsterapi eller kognitiv beteendeterapi. Terapihunden är ytterligare en omvårdnadsåtgärd för personer som lever med ångest. Syfte Syftet var att beskriva personers erfarenheter av mötet med terapihund vid ångest. Metod En icke-systematisk litteraturöversikt är den valda metoden för denna litteraturöversikt, 16 vetenskapliga artiklar av både kvalitativ samt kvantitativ design inkluderades. Sökningen av de inkluderade artiklarna utfördes i databaserna PsycINFO samt CINAHL med relevanta sökord kopplade till studiens syfte. Resultat Litteraturöversiktens resultat lyfter fram personers erfarenheter av mötet med terapihund vid ångest. Följande huvudkategorier framkom vid sammanställningen av resultatet: Upplevelsen av psykiskt mående efter mötet med terapihunden, Upplevelsen av fysiskt mående efter mötet med terapihunden och Upplevelsen av interventionen som helhet. Slutsats Terapihundar bidrar i stor utsträckning till en positiv erfarenhet bland personer som upplever ångest i olika kontexter. Att använda sig av terapihund som omvårdnadsåtgärd minskar bland annat känslor av ångest, depression och smärta. Terapihunden bidrar även till en minskad känsla av ensamhet och därmed en ökad känsla av sammanhang. En ökad användning av terapihunden som omvårdnadsåtgärd för personer som lever med ångest kan bidra till en förbättrad samt mer personcentrerad vård. / Background Mental illness can affect all people of all ages, the duration and severity vary for each individual. In 2020, 41 percent of the population in Sweden stated that they at some point in life had experienced the feeling of worry, anxiety or unease. Anxiety is one of the most common conditions in mental illness, anxiety treatment is usually done with the help of various medical treatments or with nursing measures in the form of talk therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy. The therapy dog ​​is another nursing measure for people living with anxiety. Aim The purpose was to describe people's experiences of meeting a therapy dog ​​when experiencing feelings of anxiety. Method A non-systematic literature review is the chosen method for this study, 16 scientific articles of both qualitative and quantitative design were included. The search for the included articles was performed in the databases PsycINFO and CINAHL with relevant keywords linked to the purpose of the study.  Results The results of the literature review highlight the experience of the therapy dog ​​as a nursing measure for people with anxiety. The following main categories emerged in compiling the results: The experience of mental state after the meeting with the therapy dog, The experience of physical state after the meeting with the therapy dog ​​and The experience of the intervention as a whole. Conclusions Therapy dogs contribute greatly to a positive experience among people who have emotions of anxiety in different contexts. Using a therapy dog ​​as a nursing measure reduces feelings of anxiety, depression and pain, among other things. The therapy dog ​​also contributes to a reduced feeling of loneliness and thus an increased sense of context. An increased use of the therapy dog ​​as a nursing measure for people living with anxiety can contribute to improved and more person-centered care.

Zootherapy is a method based on a positive interaction between animals and humans. The contact with animals has proved good in the treatment of attention and communication disorders, in ill people, in psychiatric patients, the elderly, the sensory, mentally or physically disabled people, but also in healthy individuals. The methods used are Animal Assisted Activities (AAA), Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) and Animal Assisted Education (AAE). Zootherapy in educational institutions has a positive impact on social relationships and learning, developing vocabulary, memory, emotions, it helps enhance self-reliance and it also has effect on physical condition of a child. The objective of this study was to survey the ways of zootherapy utilization in educational institutions in the České Budějovice region. The method of quantitative research was used to achieve the aims. Data were collected by the technique of participating observation, semi-standardized interview, documents analysis and photo-documentation. By the pilot research 9 facilities were chosen. The results have shown that the most frequently used animals are dogs and horses. Most often, zootherapy is carried out by attending the AAA program. The AAE method is not much used, although educational institutions that are involved. Zootherapy is predominantly practiced in people with disabilities. The most professionally developed technique is canistherapy. Zootherapy is provided on a regular basis. Funding is supported by grants, projects, subsidies, sponsors, parents. Educational institutions personnel have little knowledge of zootherapy. Legislature is executed mainly by a contract between the facility and the providing organization. The research outcomes suggest the following hypotheses: H 1: ``The only zootherapy provider in educational institutions within the České Budějovice region are the o.s. Hafík, o.s. Koníček and o.s. Arpida.`` H 2: ``Educational institutions in the České Budějovice region do not have conditions for the resident form of zootherapy.{\crqq} The thesis may serve as a resource for professionals, zootherapists, but also for the general public. All the information is arranged into the register of ways of using zootherapy in educational institutions.

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