For years, therapy dogs have been used for a number of different reasons as people know that dogs truly can be a man's best friend. Research has shown that Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) can improve mental and physical health by reducing anxiety, blood pressure, the feeling of loneliness, and physical pain (Kilmova et al. 2019). With all this extensive research that has been done, one article chose to compile all the data for the benefits of AAT for patients who suffer from dementia.
Many of us know that dementia is a neurodegenerative syndrome that destroys cognitive functions such as memory, communication, orientation, and basic thinking processes. Currently, there is no cure for this disease and many of the pharmaceutical treatments that are in place are used only to postpone the death of the patients. As disheartening as this is, medical professionals have branched out to more non-pharmaceutical practices to see if they can have a greater impact on the current state of the dementia patients. This is where Animal-assisted therapy has come into play.
One article compiled all the findings of research on AAT for patients with dementia. The article relayed the idea that like in many other cases, AAT has a positive impact on the physical and mental health of dementia patients (Kilmova et al. 2019). Some of these benefits include enhancing eating habits, reducing loneliness, improving communication skills, decreasing restlessness or aggressive behavior at night, and improving orientation skills (Kilmova et al. 2019). These benefits were seen most when the animal-assisted therapy targeted the specific needs of the dementia patients as would be true for any other form of treatment.
Overall, the article found that Animal-assisted therapy can be an effective treatment for the mental and physical health of dementia patients. Although this may not be a cure for the disease, AAT does improve the quality of life for the patients and this can be huge for someone who has struggled with the disease for a long time.
References
Klimova, B., Toman, J., & Kuca, K. (2019). Effectiveness of the dog therapy for patients with dementia - a systematic review. BMC Psychiatry, 19(276). doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2245-x
Hello Marlee,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the post. I think this topic is important and should definitely be open for more discussion. From personal experience I have seen the positive impacts therapy animals or even animals in general can have on a person with dementia. I have seen people with dementia react positively to animals in both early and late stages of Alzheimer’s disease. In households where there is a 24/7 care-taker for the person with dementia, I can imagine that it is not only therapeutic for the person living with dementia but also great for the care-taker.
I found this article below interesting as it talks about the use of a nature program benefitting the quality of life in a group of care-takers. It would be great to be able to implement more programs like these (maybe with zoos or animal shelters) to improve the quality of life for care-takers and people living with dementia, especially in areas with underserved populations.
Sahlin, E., Johansson, B., Karlsson, P.-O., Loberg, J., Niklasson,
M., & Grahn, P. (2019). Improved Wellbeing for Both Caretakers
and Users from A Zoo-Related Nature Based Intervention—A
Study at Nordens Ark Zoo, Sweden. International Journal of
Environmental Research and Public Health, 16(24), 4929.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16244929
Really cool find. This is an area of neuroscience that is gaining some ground as a form of support for those suffering from dementia and AD. I do think that promising results can be seen and I can speak for this first hand. My grandmother was diagnosed with AD about a year ago and one of the recommendations was a support animal/ Therapy dog. I can say that a therapy dog (Alphi) has helped my grandmother a lot. It is quite amazing to see my grandmother so lively with Alphi and how he has helped her manage her AD. I enjoyed this article a lot thanks.
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