Mental health practitioners who incorporate animal-assisted interventions into clinical practice harness the human-animal bond for therapeutic benefit. According to the Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling Competencies, practitioners have a duty to understand the complex relational processes within animal-assisted interventions in counseling (AAI-C). These bonding processes may resemble that of an attachment bond in which the client desires to maintain closeness to the practitioner and therapy animal as a result of feeling safe and secure. Researchers studying attachment in the human-animal bond have stated that attachment processes may occur within other human-animal relationships, such as between a guardian and a companion animal. However, there is no empirical research on the attachment processes occurring between humans and therapy animals in AAI-C or how these processes affect the bond between the practitioner and client. A component of the working alliance, maintaining a quality bond can improve treatment outcomes in counseling. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine how attachment to a therapy animal impacts the attachment bond between a mental health practitioner and client. Participants completed an online survey with four measures to study the following: (a) client attachment to the therapy animal, (b) practitioner attachment to the therapy animal, (c) the bond between the practitioner and client, and (d) the impact of utilizing an animal in counseling sessions. Data analyses included a multiple regression to determine how practitioners' perceptions of the attachment processes within AAI-C best explain the bond with their clients. Descriptive analysis revealed that practitioners perceived high quality bonding within AAI-C, particularly in their own attachment to the therapy animal. Results of the multiple regression indicated practitioners' attachment to the therapy animal was a significant predictor of the working alliance and bond between the practitioner and client. Practitioners who perceived themselves as extremely skilled in working with the clients' presenting issue also had a statistically significant effect on the working alliance and bond when compared to practitioners who felt less skilled. Implications for practitioners and counselor educators are provided. Limitations and areas of future research are also discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy / Mental health practitioners who incorporate animal-assisted interventions into clinical practice harness the human-animal bond for therapeutic benefit. According to the Animal-Assisted Therapy in Counseling Competencies, practitioners have a duty to understand the complex relational processes within animal-assisted interventions in counseling (AAI-C). These bonding processes may resemble that of an attachment bond in which the client desires to maintain closeness to the practitioner and therapy animal as a result of feeling safe and secure. Researchers studying attachment in the human-animal bond have stated that attachment processes may occur within other human-animal relationships, such as between a guardian and a companion animal. However, there is no practical research on the attachment processes occurring between humans and therapy animals in AAI-C or how these processes affect the bond between the practitioner and client. A component of the working alliance, maintaining a quality bond, can improve treatment outcomes in counseling. Therefore, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine how attachment to a therapy animal impacts the attachment bond between a mental health practitioner and client. Participants completed an online survey with four measures to study the following: (a) client attachment to the therapy animal, (b) practitioner attachment to the therapy animal, (c) the bond between the practitioner and client, and (d) the impact of utilizing an animal in counseling sessions. Data analyses included a multiple regression to determine how practitioners’ perceptions of the attachment processes within AAI-C best explain the bond with their clients. Descriptive statistics revealed that practitioners perceived high quality bonding within AAI-C, particularly in their own attachment to the therapy animal. Results of the multiple regression indicated practitioners’ attachment to the therapy animal influenced the working alliance and bond between the practitioner and client. Practitioners who perceived themselves as extremely skilled in working with the clients’ presenting issue also had an effect on the working alliance and bond when compared to practitioners who felt less skilled. Implications for practitioners and counselor educators are provided. Limitations and areas of future research are also discussed.

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.

Animal‑Assisted Intervention (AAI) is used to significantly reduce pain, lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety, and help ease depression in people with a range of health problems; however, it is not readily used in the hospital setting. Research involving the Human‑Animal Bond (HAB) is well established, yet most social workers receive no special training or coursework about this topic as it applies to working with patients or consumers. This study sought to understand the beliefs about AAI among medical social workers in healthcare settings in order to gauge what knowledge and degree of exposure they may have had to AAI. Eighteen randomly selected social workers, holding MSW, ASW, LMSW or LCSW credentials, employed from 6 months to 26 years in hospital or cancer clinic settings across the United States were interviewed by phone, recorded, and their comments transcribed. Nine specific themes were identified. Fifteen of the 18 medical social workers had no formal training, workshop or class discussion during undergraduate or graduate school training. No one had any on the job training, unless they purposefully sought it out, as three did. All participants agreed that they would like to know more about AAI to incorporate into their workplace in order to better inform patients, doctors, nurses and staff about the benefits of animals as a natural healing modality.

Syfte: Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilken betydelse sällskapsdjur har för den äldre människans livskvalité och omvårdnad. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie med femton studier med kvantitativ ansats. Datainsamlingen gjordes i databasen ELIN och PubMed och genom manuell sökning av tidsskrifter. Huvudresultat: På ett äldreboende visade en studie att kanariefågel ökade livskvalitén, den självupplevda psykiska statusen och känslan av autonomi. Sociala interaktioner ökade i samband med Animal Assisted Activity och gav andra diskussionsämnen än de egna sjukdomarna. Forskare från USA hävdar att interaktionen mellan människa och djur har en social och lugnade effekt hos människor som har diagnosen Alzheimers sjukdom. Besök av en hund på ett äldreboende visade en signifikant förbättring av tillfällig sinnesstämning i interventionsgruppen men minimala förändringar i kontrollgruppen. Studier visade att anspänning, depression, utmattning och förvirring kan minska bland populationen när ett äldreboende har en bofast hund och ge ett förbättrat hälsotillstånd. Ett akvarium på ett demensboende kan ge ett ökat intag av mat och med det en minskning av näringsdrycker och en ökad autonomi. Flera studier visade positiva beteendeförändringar på problembeteenden hos dementa med hjälp av sällskapsdjur. Slutsats: Sällskapsdjur har en positiv effekt hos äldre människor och kan påverka omvårdnaden.

Syfte: Syftet med denna studie var att belysa hur djur i omvårdnaden för äldre inom särskildaboende påverkar äldres psykosociala välbefinnande. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudiemed 15 kvantitativa artiklar. Artiklarna söktes i sökmotorn ELIN samt databaserna Cinahl,PubMed och Science Direct. Studier har också erhållits via manuell sökning. Huvudresultat:Studier visade på att djur inom särskilda boenden påverkade äldres psykiska och socialavälbefinnande till det bättre. Forskningsresultaten visade på att förekomsten av depressionerminskade. Djurterapi förbättrade även den sociala interaktionen hos de äldre då fler spontanakontakter uppstod. Personer som drabbats av Alzheimers sjukdom tenderade att bli mindreoroliga. Den icke verbala kommunikationen med djur ansågs värdefull för de äldre. Studiervisade även att likvärdiga positiva effekter påvisades genom sällskap med människor i form avvolontärer likaväl som med hundar. Slutsats: Flertalet studier visade på att med hjälp av djurenblev de äldre gladare, mer sociala och upplevde mindre ensamhet. Det fanns få vetenskapligastudier ur sjuksköterskans synvinkel samt genomförd inom Nordens länder.

Background: The elderly population is a vulnerable group, it is the nurse's responsibility to promote health and meet the nursing needs that arise. Health-related benefits for animal owners have been known since the ninth century and today animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are an accepted concept in health care. Aim: The aim is to describe the effect AAI hason the elderly in elderly care. Method: This is a general literature review. A thematic analysis has been used to compile the results from previous research. 14 articles from the databases CINAHL, Pubmed and Medline were selected for the result. 3 themes and 8 subthemes were identified: Quality of life with subthemes "Quality of life according to QUALID", "Socialinteraction", "Well-being" and "Sense of coherence", Symptom relief with subthemes "Mentalillness" and "Cognitive ability" and Physical health with subthemes "Physical activity” and “Appetite”. Results: AAI results in increased social interactions, reduction of depression, increased appetite and physical activity, improved cognition, increased well-being, sense of coherence and an improved quality of life (QoL). Conclusions: AAI can improve the health and QoL of the elderly in elderly care, especially for those with dementia. AAI can potentially reduce the use of drugs among the elderly. Further research in the field is needed to strengthen results found in several of the articles and to map the duration of the effects.

The Aim The aim of this study was to examine the effects of Animal Assisted Therapies with Farm Animals (AATF) with domesticated ducks on depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) . Furthermore, the following hypothesis was tested: Engaging in AATF with domesticated ducks will be associated with decrease in depression, anxiety, and an increase in self-efficacy. Methods The study examined the effects of AATF on anxiety and depression among patients with TBI. Time series quasi-experimental design structure was utilized. At the beginning of the study participants received Hospital Anxiety and Depression Survey (HADS) and General Self Efficacy (GSE) questionnaires to evaluate the depression, anxiety, and self-efficacy. After that AAFT intervention started. AAFT intervention included two one-hour sessions interacting with ducks every week for 12 weeks. At the end of 12-week period participants received the same questioners. This was repeated in four weeks after the intervention ended to evaluate the residual effects of the intervention on anxiety and depression. Results General Linear Model was employed to examine changes in anxiety, depression, and self-efficacy. Participants presented with anxiety level decrease when means of pre and post intervention anxiety levels were compared. We discovered that these differences were significant based on an alpha value of .05, p = .009. There were no statistically significant differences between anxiety levels immediately post intervention and in four weeks the intervention was complete. There were no statistically significant differences discovered between depression levels pre, post, and retest. Also, there were no statistically significant differences discovered between self-efficacy levels pre, post, and retest. Conclusions Our study supported the part of hypothesis regarding an inverse association between time spent working with ducks and anxiety. Mastery of skills, vicarious experiences, and verbal persuasion may be the factors that contribute to the beneficial outcomes of the interactions between persons with TBI and domesticated ducks.

Background: Animals have been shown to have a positive effect on people. The nursing science approach says that a person can experience well-being despite illness. The positive attributes of animals can be used in health care to help ill people experience well-being. An animal-assisted intervention can be a form of activity or therapy involving pets (AAA / AAT) or horses (EAT). Aim: The purpose of this study was to elucidate how animals in health care promote well-being for people with long-term illness. Methods: Literature review based on fourteen original scientific articles, with both qualitative and quantitative approach. Results: The compilation of the results led to four main categories with two subcategories respectively. These were: Physical aspects with subcategories Physical well-being and Bodily functions; Psychic aspects with subcategories Psychic well-being and Reduced psychiatric symptoms; Existential aspects with subcategories Quality of Life and Safety; Social Aspects with subcategories Social behavior and Relationships. Discussions: Review and discussion of the selected method. Discussion of the results with the selected theoretical framework: Antonovsky's theory of Sense of Coherence (SOC) and the salutogenic approach. The results were discussed based on the concepts of comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness.

While there have been many presentations and anecdotal evidence in support of AAT, quantitative empirically validated studies are very limited. Without quantitative empirical studies to support the effectiveness of AAT, it remains an unproven complement to traditional physical and psychotherapeutic practices (Kruger & Serpell,2010). The value and importance of non-empirical literature on AAT,including therapists’ observations, various author’s personal experiences, and unstructured interviews with patients, will be explored in the next section. Empirical literature on AAT, including scientific experiment and controlled research studies, will also be addressed. Finally, a conclusion providing ideas for future directions in research in this discipline will be presented.