IJERPH, Vol. 20, Pages 6780: Developing and Planning a Protocol for Implementing Health Promoting Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) in a Tertiary Health Setting

IJERPH, Vol. 20, Pages 6780: Developing and Planning a Protocol for Implementing Health Promoting Animal Assisted Interventions (AAI) in a Tertiary Health Setting International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph20186780 Authors: M. Anne Hamilton-Bruce Janette Young Carmel Nottle Susan J. Hazel Austin G. Milton Sonya McDowall Ben Mani Simon Koblar The Ottawa Charter identifies that multiple levels of government, non-government, community, and other organizations should work together to facilitate health promotion, including in acute settings such as hospitals. We outline a method and protocol to achieve this, namely an Action Research (AR) framework for an Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) in a tertiary health setting. Dogs Offering Support after Stroke (DOgSS) is an AR study at a major tertiary referral hospital. AAI has been reported to improve mood and quality of life for patients in hospitals. Our project objectives included applying for funding, developing a hospital dog visiting Action Research project, and, subsequent to ethics and governance approvals and finance, undertaking and reporting on the Action Research findings. The Action Research project aimed to investigate whether AAI (dog-visiting) makes a difference to the expressed mood of stroke patients and their informal supports (visiting carers/family/friends), and also the impact these visits have on hospital staff and volunteers, as well as the dog hand...
Source: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Article Source Type: research