The PET@home Toolkit: A Process Evaluation Study.

The Dutch PET@home Toolkit was developed to mitigate challenges, foster conversations, and support planning concerning pets in long-term care at home. This process evaluation study aimed to evaluate the practical application of the toolkit on four topics: (1) satisfaction; (2) relevance; (3) feasibility; and (4) integration of the PET@home Toolkit materials in home care. Outcomes may be used to improve the toolkit materials to better align with the long-term care at home setting.

The development of the PET@home toolkit: An experience-based co-design method study.

Objective: The relevance of pets in long-term home care is increasingly recognised because of their effects on health outcomes in clients and the rising number of clients receiving long-term care at home (further referred to as clients receiving home care). Currently, there is a lack of supportive materials that address pet-related challenges within home care. This study aimed to develop a toolkit for clients receiving home care with pets, their family, and professional caregivers using a participatory research approach.

Psychophysiological effects of walking in forests and urban built environments with disparate road traffic noise exposure: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Stress is a widespread phenomenon and reality of everyday life, entailing negative consequences for physical and psychological wellbeing. Previous studies have indicated that exposure to greenspaces and nature-based interventions are promising approaches to reducing stress and promoting restoration. However, an increasing percentage of the population lives in urban regions with limited opportunities to spend time in greenspaces.

Effects of including a dog on treatment motivation and the therapeutic alliance in child and adolescent psychotherapy: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Motivation and a therapeutic alliance are crucial for successful therapy. It is assumed that dogs can increase motivation and help support therapeutic relationships. This is one of the reasons for including dogs in psychotherapy.

Children's bond with companion animals and associations with psychosocial health: A systematic review.

Background: Companion animals can fulfill children's attachment needs. A secure attachment to humans is positively associated with psychosocial health, therefore, the extent to which this applies to a strong child-companion animal bond is worth examining.

Aims: We aimed to gain insight into the current literature regarding the bond between children and companion animals and psychosocial health.

Animal-Assisted Psychotherapy for Pediatric Chronic Pain: Case Series of an Open Pilot Study to Test Initial Feasibility and Potential Efficacy.

Objective: Chronic pain is a common complaint in children and adolescents, placing an enormous burden on individuals, their families, and the healthcare system. New innovative approaches for the treatment of pediatric chronic pain (PCP) are clearly warranted, as drop-out rates in intervention studies are high and it can be difficult to engage patients with PCP in therapy. Here, animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) might be promising, since there is preliminary evidence for the approach in adults with chronic pain, and AAIs are generally known to foster the therapeutic motivation of patients.

The Importance of the Treatment Rationale for Pain in Animal-Assisted Interventions: A Randomized Controlled Trial in Healthy Participants.

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) is a promising treatment approach for pain, but possible mechanisms still need to be elucidated. This study set out to investigate the analgesic effects of an animal provided with a treatment rationale in a randomized controlled trial employing a standardized experimental heat-pain paradigm. We randomly assigned 128 healthy participants to: dog treatment (DT), placebo treatment (PT), dog and placebo treatment (DPT), and no treatment (NT).

The Significance of Pets for Vulnerable Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Explorative Qualitative Study.

Older adults receiving long-term care at home (LTCH-clients) were impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its countermeasures. Previous research suggests that pets can mitigate some of the pandemic's impacts for older adults but results are contradictory. Our aim was to investigate experiences of LTCH-clients and the significance of their pets during the pandemic.

Effects of contact with a dog on prefrontal brain activity: A controlled trial.

Background: There is a broad range of known effects of animal contact on human mental and physical health. Neurological correlates of human interaction with animals have been sparsely investigated. We investigated changes in frontal brain activity in the presence of and during contact with a dog.

The Promotion and Development of One Health at Swiss TPH and Its Greater Potential.

One Health, an integrated health concept, is now an integral part of health research and development. One Health overlaps with other integrated approaches to health such as EcoHealth or Planetary Health, which not only consider the patient or population groups but include them in the social-ecological context. One Health has gained the widest foothold politically, institutionally, and in operational implementation.

Effects of a Dog-Assisted Social- and Emotional-Competence Training for Prisoners: A Controlled Study.

Background: Previous research has called for improving psychological interventions and developing new treatments for prisoners. Animal-assisted prison-based programmes have increasingly been used as an approach, but there is a lack of studies investigating the effectiveness of such programmes.

Objective: To investigate the effects of a dog-assisted social- and emotional-competence training on the socioemotional competences of prisoners compared to treatment as usual.

Specific and Non-specific Factors of Animal-Assisted Interventions Considered in Research: A Systematic Review.

Unlabelled: Research on animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) has increased massively in the last few years. But it is still not clear how AAIs work and how important the animal is in such interventions. The aim of this systematic review was to compile the existing state of knowledge about the working mechanisms of AAIs.

Effects of animal-assisted psychotherapy incorporating mindfulness and self-compassion in neurorehabilitation: a randomized controlled feasibility trial.

Transdiagnostic psychotherapeutic approaches are increasingly used in neurorehabilitation to address psychological distress. Animal-assistance is thought to increase efficacy. The present study evaluates a psychotherapeutic mindfulness- and self-compassion-based group intervention (MSCBI) with and without animal-assistance for patients with acquired brain injury.

Lack of Effects of the Presence of a Dog on Pain Perception in Healthy Participants-A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of pain. Studies suggest that relationships with animals can have comparable qualities to relationships with humans and that this enables animals to provide social support. Further, the presence of an animal can strengthen the therapeutic alliance between patients and treatment providers.

Effectiveness of animal-assisted interventions for children and adults with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

: Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) are increasingly applied for people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms albeit its effectiveness is unclear.: To examine the effectiveness of AAI for treating PTSD symptoms.: We searched 11 major electronic databases for studies reporting quantitative data on effects of AAI for children and adults with PTSD symptoms.

Animal presence modulates frontal brain activity of patients in a minimally conscious state: A pilot study.

Integrating animals into therapy is applied increasingly in patients in a minimally conscious state (MCS). This pilot study investigates the effect of animal presence on frontal brain activity in MCS patients compared to healthy subjects. OHB, HHb and tHb of two MCS patients and two healthy adults was measured in frontal cortex using functional near-infrared spectroscopy during three sessions with a live animal and three sessions with a mechanical toy animal present.

Influences of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Episodic Memory in Patients with Acquired Brain Injuries.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is shown to be an effective method to foster neurorehabilitation. However, no studies investigate long-term effects of AAT in patients with acquired brain injuries. Therefore, the aim of this pilot study was to investigate if and how AAT affects long-term episodic memory using a mixed-method approach.

Defining the PTSD Service Dog Intervention: Perceived Importance, Usage, and Symptom Specificity of Psychiatric Service Dogs for Military Veterans.

Research suggests that psychiatric service dogs may be an effective complementary treatment option for military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Although this practice continues to increase in popularity and research has reached the rigor of clinical trials, the components of the PTSD service dog intervention remain largely undefined. This research aimed to (1) quantify the importance, usage, and PTSD symptom specificity of service dog trained and untrained behaviors, (2) explore how PTSD severity, time since receiving the service dog, and the veteran-dog relationship relate to outcomes, and (3) compare expectations of veterans on the waitlist to experiences of veterans with service dogs.

Is Animal-Assisted Therapy for Minimally Conscious State Beneficial? A Case Study.

Objective: The goal of this single case study was to qualitatively investigate the effects of animal-assisted therapy in a patient in a minimally conscious state.

Method: We present a 28-year-old female patient in a minimally conscious state following polytrauma after a sports accident leading to cerebral fat embolism causing multiple CNS ischemic lesions. She received eight animal-assisted therapy sessions and eight paralleled control therapy sessions over 4 weeks.

Dog-Assisted Therapy in Neurorehabilitation of Children with Severe Neurological Impairment: An Explorative Study.

Background: Dog-assisted therapy (DAT) is increasingly applied in neurorehabilitation of patients with severe neurological impairments. To date, there are only anecdotal reports investigating its effects.

Objectives: This study was aimed to evaluate the potential of DAT in pediatric inpatient neurorehabilitation for severely neurologically impaired children and adolescents, to identify characteristics of patients receiving this therapy, characteristics of the therapy sessions, and to evaluate feasibility and extent of goal achievement.

Animal-assisted therapy for patients in a minimally conscious state: A randomized two treatment multi-period crossover trial.

Objective: To investigate if animal-assisted therapy (AAT) leads to higher consciousness in patients in a minimally conscious state during a therapy session, measured via behavioral reactions, heart rate and heart rate variability.

Methods: In a randomized two treatment multi-period crossover trial, 10 patients in a minimally conscious state participated in eight AAT sessions and eight paralleled conventional therapy sessions, leading to 78 AAT and 73 analyzed control sessions. Patients' responses during sessions were assessed via behavioral video coding and the Basler Vegetative State Assessment (BAVESTA), heart rate and heart rate variability (SDNN, RMSSD, HF and LF).

"There Is a Cat on Our Ward": Inpatient and Staff Member Attitudes toward and Experiences with Cats in a Psychiatric Ward.

The aim of this study was to investigate inpatient and staff member attitudes toward and experiences with ward cats, and identify possible mechanisms for how cats affect patient satisfaction in a psychiatric clinic. Thirty-three inpatients diagnosed with depression or psychosis residing on wards with and without cats and 17 staff members working on wards with cats participated in semi-structured interviews using a cross-sectional study design. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and correlations.

Effects of animal-assisted therapy on social behaviour in patients with acquired brain injury: a randomised controlled trial.

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is increasingly used to address impaired social competence in patients with acquired brain injury. However, the efficacy of AAT has not been tested in these patients. We used a randomised, controlled within subject trial to determine the effects of AAT on social competence in patients undergoing stationary neurorehabilitation.