Impact of equine interactions on human acute pain perception: Two cross sectional studies.

Background: Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of Animal-Assisted Therapy, usually involving dogs, as a way to reduce pain in inpatient and outpatient populations. Here two studies investigate the effectiveness of interacting with horses for reducing human acute pain perception.

Methods: In Study 1, a blood-pressure cuff was used to administer acute ischaemic pain to 70 adult participants, who were allocated to one of three groups: Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP), Horse Interaction without EAP (HI), and a Control (no horses present).

"In an ideal world that would be a multiagency service because you need everybody's expertise." Managing hoarding disorder: A qualitative investigation of existing procedures and practices.

Hoarding disorder is characterised by the acquisition of, and failure to discard large numbers of items regardless of their actual value, a perceived need to save the items and distress associated with discarding them, significant clutter in living spaces that render the activities associated with those spaces very difficult causing significant distress or impairment in functioning. To aid development of an intervention for hoarding disorder we aimed to identify current practice by investigating key stakeholders existing practice regarding identification, assessment and intervention associated with people with hoarding disorder. Two focus groups with a purposive sample of 17 (eight male, nine female) stakeholders representing a range of services from housing, health, and social care were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Informal Caregivers of People With Parkinson's Disease Residing in the UK: A Qualitative Study.

Informal caregivers can experience various demands when providing care and support for People with Parkinson's disease (PwP) in their own homes. The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 and public health strategies employed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 have presented challenges to the general populace on a global basis. The present study used a qualitative research design to explore how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted informal caregivers in their role of providing care for PwP in their own homes.

Therapeutic Lies in Dementia Care: Should Psychologists Teach Others to be Person-Centred Liars?

Background: Therapeutic lies are frequently used communication strategies, often employed when the person with dementia does not share the same reality as the carer (James and Jackman, 2017; Tuckett 2004; Blum, 1994). Their use is complex and controversial, and a number of protocols have been produced to guide their usage (Mental Health Foundation, 2016).

Aims: The study examined clinicians' perspective on using therapeutic lies in their daily practice and their roles in encouraging the proper use of such a communication strategy.