Speichelproben, die vorher und nachher entnommen wurden, zeigten nur einen deutlichen Anstieg, wenn ein echtes Tier gestreichelt wurde. In Bearbeitung Cirulli F et al. There is a growing interest for the potential health benefits of human-animal interactions. Although scientific evidence on the effects is far from being consistent, companion animals are used with a large number of human subjects, ranging from children to elderly people, who benefit most from emotional support.
Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, this paper examines the potential for domesticated animals, such as dogs, for providing emotional and physical opportunities to enrich the lives of many frail subjects. In particular, we focus on innovative interventions, including the potential use of dogs to improve the life of emotionally-impaired children, such as those affected by autism spectrum disorders.
Overall an ever increasing research effort is needed to search for the mechanism that lie behind the human-animal bond as well as to provide standardized methodologies for a cautious and effective use of animal-assisted interventions. Basierend auf einer Literaturrecherche untersucht dieser Artikel das Potenzial von Haustieren z. Hunden , das Leben von kranken und gebrechlichen Menschen durch emotionale und physische Hilfe zu bereichern.
Cole KM et al. Animal-assisted therapy improves physiological and psychosocial variables in healthy and hypertensive patients. To determine whether a minute hospital visit with a therapy dog improves hemodynamic measures, lowers neurohormone levels, and decreases state anxiety in patients with advanced heart failure.
A 3-group randomized repeated-measures experimental design was used in 76 adults. Longitudinal analysis was used to model differences among the 3 groups at 3 times. One group received a minute visit from a volunteer with a therapy dog; another group, a minute visit from a volunteer; and the control group, usual care.
Data were collected at baseline, at 8 minutes, and at 16 minutes. Compared with controls, the volunteer-dog group had significantly greater decreases in systolic pulmonary artery pressure during Compared with the volunteer-only group, the volunteer-dog group had significantly greater decreases in epinephrine levels during After the intervention, the volunteer-dog group had the greatest decrease from baseline in state anxiety sum score compared with the volunteer-only Zu diesem Zweck wurden 76 Teilnehmer in drei Gruppen aufgeteilt.
Daten wurden zu Beginn, nach acht Minuten und nach 16 Minuten erhoben. Cooper, and Michael L. Assistive Technology 1, no. This cross-sectional study examined whether partnering with service dogs influenced psychosocial well-being and community participation of adult individuals using wheelchairs or scooters. One hundred and fifty-two people were recruited and group-matched, resulting in 76 participants with and 76 without service dogs.
Standardized scale scores for affect, depressive symptoms, self-esteem, and loneliness were used to operationally define psychosocial well-being. Psychosocial characteristics did not differ significantly between those partnered with and without service dogs overall. However, of participants with progressive conditions, those with service dogs demonstrated significantly higher positive affect scores than comparison group participants.
Among those with clinical depression, service dog partners scored significantly higher in positive affect. Finally, regardless of whether individuals had service dogs, fewer depressive symptoms and being female or married were predictors of greater community participation. Select individuals may experience psychosocial benefits from partnering with service dogs. However, it is unclear if these benefits might also be derived from companion dogs. Further research is needed to substantiate the findings of this study. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of partnerships between people with disabilities and service dogs on functional performance and social interaction.
A single-subject, alternating treatment design was used. The participants were 3 women with mobility challenges who owned service dogs. For each participant, time and perceived amount of effort for two tasks were measured for functional performance. Interaction and satisfaction levels were measured for social interactions. Primary findings were that service dog partnerships decreased performance time for four of the six tasks, decreased effort for five of the six tasks, increased social interactions for 2 of the participants, and increased levels of satisfaction with social interactions for all participants.
For adult women with mobility challenges, service dog partnerships may contribute to energy conservation through decreased time and effort required to complete some tasks and may increase social interactions. Dalziel DJ et al. A Review and Preliminary Study. Research development and use of purported alerting dogs. Review of the literature was performed. A qualitative questionnaire was completed by epilepsy patients. Service dog trainers were identified. Of 63 patients, 29 owned pet dogs.
Nine reported their dog responded to seizures, three also were reported to alert to seizure onset. A literature review revealed psychological and practical benefits of service dogs are well documented. Fifteen trainers of seizure-assist dogs were identified and interviewed. Warrants further research to aid in the selection of patients who may benefit from seizure-assist dogs, for identification and further training of these dogs and possibly the development of seizure-alerting devices.
Zudem wurden Trainer von Service-Hunden ausfindig gemacht. Drei berichteten, dass ihre Hunde vor dem Einsetzen eines Anfalls warnen. Eine Literaturrecherche ergab, dass psychologische und praktische Vorteile von Service-Hunden gut dokumentiert sind. Trained dogs were largely unable to identify skin swabs obtained from hypoglycemic T1D subjects. We chose to test with skin swabs because 1 dogs are well known to respond to scents carried on human skin 1 and 2 the trainers had reported success with this method in training the animals to respond to hypoglycemia.
To our knowledge, this is the first controlled study to address whether dogs can detect a hypoglycemic scent, though there are anecdotal and case reports suggesting that dogs can respond to hypoglycemia 2—4. Our results addressed only whether there is a detectable hypoglycemia scent on the skin. In future studies, it may be helpful to include behavioral elements, such as studies in the presence of human companions. It might also be helpful to obtain swabs from the usual human companions of the dogs. We found that trained dogs were unable to correctly identify skin swabs obtained during hypoglycemia in subjects with T1D.
Further studies are needed to address the role of other factors that the animals might use, such as behavioral cues. Diederich, Claire, and Jean-Marie Giffroy. A Review of Methodology in Search for Standardisation. As a consequence of their living close to humans as pets, for working purposes or as laboratory animals, dogs give evidence of behavioural variability, stemming from their innate capacities as well as from environmental influences.
This paper reviews the behavioural tests used for dogs—tests which serve as an evaluation tool and those which serve as a means of classifying individual animals. In search of a consensus and standardisation, some material and methodological aspects of behavioural testing in dogs were collected. Behavioural test parameters that were taken into account were the terminology of the temperament concept, the test quality requirements and their implementation in the literature, the characteristics of the dog tested source, breed, age, sex , the characteristics of the social and environmental stimuli used to elicit canine behaviour, the characteristics of the behavioural variables collected and the characteristics of the physical and physiological concomitant data obtained while assessing the behaviour.
This review brings to light a lack of consensus regarding all these parameters.
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The procedures of testing are often particular to the investigator and thus unique. We emphasised this statement by comparing six research studies using a ball, carried out over 40 years. In view of all these differences in methodology, standardisation is suggested through the creation of a reference manual. Tests, die als Bewertungsinstrument dienen und Tests, die als Instrument zur Klassifizierung einzelner Tiere dienen. Auf der Suche nach Konsens und Standardisierung wurden Materialien und methodologische Aspekte von Verhaltenstests bei Hunden gesammelt.
Hinsichtlich all dieser Unterschiede in der Methodik wird eine Standardisierung mit Hilfe einer Referenzanleitung vorgeschlagen. Benefits to Recipients and Welfare of the Dog. The surveys were completed online when the puppies were 6 months old and again at 12 months of age. Generalized linear modeling for each of the five schools revealed that dogs that successfully completed training scored more favorably on 27 out of 36 C-BARQ traits at both 6 and 12 months of age compared to those that were released from the programs.
The most predictive trait at both age levels was pulls excessively hard on leash, for which each unit increase in score was associated with a 1. During the last 2 decades, service animals that are trained to help persons with disabilities have been making more frequent appearances in health care settings.
After a long history of banning animals from these environments, many health care providers now endorse the presence of these animals in clinical and public settings. The document gives an overview of the roles of service animals and their implications for health care providers. This SOAR will also suggest ways to develop prudent policies and practices for infection control and risk management. Eddy, Jane, Lynette A. Hart, and Ronald P. Able-bodied people often exhibit behaviors that show them to be socially uncomfortable upon encountering a physically disabled stranger.
These behaviors include less eye contact, gaze avoidance, greater personal distance, and briefer social interactions. This study examined whether persons in wheelchairs with service dogs receive more frequent social acknowledgement from able-bodied strangers than people in wheelchairs without dogs receive. Behaviors of passersby were recorded by an observer who followed a person in a wheelchair at a distance of 15 to 30 feet.
Observations were made in public areas amid pedestrian traffic, areas such as shopping malls and a college campus. The behaviors of passersby to the person in a wheelchair, with or without a service dog, were recorded, including smiles, conversation, touch, gaze aversion, path avoidance, or no response.
Results indicated that both smiles and conversations from passersby increased significantly when the dogs were present. These findings suggest that the benefits of service dogs for their owners extend beyond working tasks to include enhanced opportunities for social exchange. The service dogs substantially reduced the tendency of able-bodied people to ignore or avoid the disabled person.
A Pilot Study - ProQuest. In Bearbeitung Ehmann R et al. Revisiting a Puzzling Phenomenon. Patient prognosis in lung cancer largely depends on early diagnosis. The exhaled breath of patients may represent the ideal specimen for future lung cancer screening. However, the clinical applicability of current diagnostic sensor technologies based on signal pattern analysis remains incalculable due to their inability to identify a clear target. To test the robustness of the presence of a so far unknown volatile organic compound in the breath of patients with lung cancer, sniffer dogs were applied. Exhalation samples of volunteers healthy individuals, confirmed lung cancer or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD were presented to sniffer dogs following a rigid scientific protocol.
Patient history, drug administration and clinicopathological data were analysed to identify potential bias or confounders. Lung cancer detection was independent from COPD and the presence of tobacco smoke and food odours. Logistic regression identified two drugs as potential confounders.
It must be assumed that a robust and specific volatile organic compound or pattern is present in the breath of patients with lung cancer. Additional research efforts are required to overcome the current technical limitations of electronic sensor technologies to engineer a clinically applicable screening tool. Ennik, Irma et al. Clinical Applications and Research 1. This study examines the relative importance of a longer than normal 4-month training period, or being passed back from the original training class to join a class in which dogs are at an earlier stage of their training, on the overall probability that a dog entering guide dog training will ultimately graduate as a guide dog.
The study group consisted of dogs that were trained at The Seeing Eye guide dog school in the years through Overall, GS had the highest chance to be passed back during their training. LGX had the highest, and GS the lowest, probability for graduating as guide dogs. Dogs that were passed back for behavioral reasons were only half as likely as dogs completing training normally to work as guide dogs, whereas medical reasons and no match reasons for being passed back hardly influenced the chances to become guide dogs. Die untersuchte Gruppe bestand aus Hunden, die in der Seeing-Eye-Blindenhund-Schule zwischen und ausgebildet wurden.
The domestication of dogs was an important episode in the development of human civilization. The precise timing and location of this event is debated1—5 and little is known about the genetic changes that accompanied the transformation of ancient wolves into domestic dogs. Here we conduct whole-genome resequencing of dogs and wolves to identify 3. Nineteen of these regions con- tain genes important in brain function, eight of which belong to nervous system development pathways and potentially underlie behavioural changes central to dog domestication6.
Ten genes with key roles in starch digestion and fat metabolism also show signals of selection. We identify candidate mutations in key genes and provide functional support for an increased starch digestion in dogs relative to wolves. Our results indicate that novel adaptations allowing the early ancestors of modern dogs to thrive on a diet rich in starch, relative to the carnivorous diet of wolves, constituted a crucial step in the early domestication of dogs.
Die Domestizierung von Hunden war eine wichtige Episode in der Entwicklung der menschlichen Zivilisation. Humans excel at assessing conspecific emotional valence and intensity, based solely on non-verbal vocal bursts that are also common in other mammals. It is not known, however, whether human listeners rely on similar acoustic cues to assess emotional content in conspecific and heterospecific vocalizations, and which acoustical parameters affect their performance. Here, for the first time, we directly compared the emotional valence and intensity perception of dog and human non-verbal vocalizations.
We revealed similar relationships between acoustic features and emotional valence and intensity ratings of human and dog vocalizations: Our findings demonstrate that humans rate conspecific emotional vocalizations along basic acoustic rules, and that they apply similar rules when processing dog vocal expressions.
This suggests that humans may utilize similar mental mechanisms for recognizing human and heterospecific vocal emotions. A Review of the Literature. Animal-assisted therapy AAT is gaining popularity as part of therapy programs in residential aged care facilities. Humans and pet dogs respond to quiet interaction with a lowering of blood pressure and an increase in neurochemicals associated with relaxation and bonding. These effects may be of benefit in ameliorating behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia BPSD.
Menschen und Haushunde reagieren auf ruhige Interaktion mit einer Senkung des Blutdrucks und einer Steigerung der Neurochemikalien, was mit Entspannung und Verbindung verbunden ist. In Bearbeitung Gagnon J et al. Children living with cancer must cope with the disease, frequent hospitalizations, aggressive treatments and numerous treatment side effects. Combined, these stressors can lead to adverse biopsychosocial effects. This study aims more specifically at documenting the observed connection between participating in the program, quality of care and satisfaction of participating parents and nurses.
A total of 16 parents of children and 12 nurses took part in the implementation study and composed the sample. Data were collected through two self-administered questionnaires intended for parents and one questionnaire for nurses. Evaluating the quality of the animal therapy program includes issues related to user profiles, animal therapy intervention process, organizational structure and client outcomes. It appears that dog-assisted therapy may contribute to alleviate psychological distress in children and parents, facilitate their adaptation to the therapeutic process, and promote their well-being while hospitalized.
The goal of a second phase to the project will be to verify the effectiveness of the animal therapy intervention by targeting more specifically children hospitalized with solid tumours.
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Stemming from a nursing initiative started in , this project aims to promote the well-being of children living with cancer during their hospitalization, reduce their emotional distress and facilitate their adaptation to the therapeutic psychological, physical and social process by promoting the emergence of special bonds between children and animals.
The animal therapy program at CHUQ allows children accompanied by a parent to spend a whole day with a dog while being hospitalized in a room that is safe, warm and family friendly Landry et al. Animal therapy is defined as a clinical method aiming to promote the natural and healing bonds that exist between humans and animals, both for preventive and therapeutic reasons Daoust, As well-being is inconsistent with the state of emotional distress, animal-assisted therapy may be a beneficial intervention to alleviate distress in the child, his family and caregivers.
Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war, eine deskriptive Beurteilung der Umsetzung dieses Programms mithilfe des Modells von Donabedian fertigzustellen. Clinical Applications and Research 3.
Bibliography Assistance Dogs - Bibliografie Assistenzhunde | Pfotenpiloten
This research aimed to identify the frequency and type of undesirable behaviors observed by guide dog puppy walkers and management strategies used by them during the puppy-walking period. This sampling represented homes caring for 28 Labrador retrievers, 6 Golden retrievers, and 2 German shepherd dogs. Of these dogs, Three categories of undesirable behaviors were recorded. First, behaviors considered inconsequential to the guide dog role were: Second, the following behaviors considered easily resolvable through training were recorded: Third, these potentially disqualifying behaviors were observed: None of the puppies was reported to be fearful of children.
However, only few of them might lead to disqualification. The results suggest that most of the puppies were well socialized to people and not fearful. Puppy walkers could contribute to the early assessment of potential behavioral problems, which are a major cause of disqualifying guide dogs. In der dritten Kategorie wurden eventuell disqualifizierende Verhaltensweisen beobachtet: Angst vor Kindern wurde bei keinem Welpen festgestellt. N, and Carr D. The children were shown 10 objects in each condition.
At test, the children were shown each original object along with a distracter and asked to select the one they had seen before. As we expected, object recognition performance was at ceiling and no effects were significant. Instructional prompts were recorded in two ways: The second experiment involved the use of pictures of three-dimensional objects. Again, for both types of prompts, fewer prompts were needed in the Real Dog condition relative to the other two conditions.
The results of these experiments indicate that the presence of a well-trained dog reduces the need for instructional prompts in a traditional cognitive task—object recognition—for preschool children. The common assumption that the presence of a dog can be distracting for children during the execution of cognitive tasks appears to be false.
Den Kindern wurden jeweils zehn Objekte gezeigt. Wie erwartet wurden keine signifikanten Effekte erkennbar. Befehlsabfragen wurden auf zwei Arten aufgenommen: Beim zweiten Versuch wurden Bilder von dreidimensionalen Objekten genutzt. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the presence of a therapy dog would affect the performance of a set of gross motor skills tasks for a mixed group of language-impaired and typical preschool children.
The 14 children in the group were between four and six years old four female and ten male ; the two dogs were Miniature Poodles. The design was a two-way mixed model factorial, where a series of 10 gross motor skills tasks e. In the dog-present conditions, the dog either performed the task immediately prior to, or at the same time as, the child. Time to complete each task and the accuracy of task performance as determined by a rating scale were determined from a review of experiment videotapes.
Die beiden eingesetzten Hunde waren Zwergpudel. In der Bewertungsskala konnte kein positiver Effekt festgestellt werden.
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Stories from the Bedside. Research has shown that a companion animal or pet can help a person better cope with stressful life events, prevent loneliness, decrease depression, improve activities of daily living ADLs , and increase social interactions. Pets in nursing homes have been associated with decreased psychotropic medication usage and a greater than 50 percent reduction in healthcare costs.
Despite research in other areas of healthcare, there is limited data concerning the use of companion animals in palliative care. This article presents an overview of companion-animal-associated medical research as well as patient stories that illustrate the roles of companion animals in end-of-life care. Gern, James E et al. Background Exposure to furred pets might confer protection against the development of allergic sensitization through a mechanism that is incompletely understood.
Objective The objective of this study was to determine the effects of pet exposure and genotype on immunologic development and the incidence of atopic markers and diseases in the first year of life. Methods Pet exposure in the home was compared with cytokine secretion patterns mitogen-stimulated mononuclear cells at birth and age 1 year and indicators of atopy allergen-specific and total IgE, eosinophilia, food allergy, atopic dermatitis in infants. Interactions with genotype at the CD14 locus were also evaluated in the data analyses.
Das Ziel dieser Studie war, die Auswirkungen von Haustier-Exposition und des Genotypen auf die immunologische Entwicklung und das Auftreten von atopischen Markern im ersten Lebensjahr zu untersuchen. Auch Daten zum Genotypen wurden analysiert. Haushund-Exposition war mit einer reduzierten allergischen Sensibilisierung und geringerer atopischer Dermatitis verbunden. Zudem wurde das Risiko von atopischer Dermatitis vom Genotypen beeinflusst. Es ergab sich, dass der Besitz eines Hundes im Kindesalter sich auf die Zytokinsekretion auswirkt und allergische Sensibilisierung und atopische Dermatitis verringert.
Gillespie, Woolf, "Service Dog Partnerships. The use of service or assistance dogs has increased over the past three decades but is still considered by many to be an emerging concept for assisting people with disabilities to navigate a number of environments. This is predominately due to the minimal research that has been done on the effect and promising practices. One area, employment, has been completely overlooked in research related to service dogs. This research project undertook an exploratory study to gather data on the elements of service dog partnerships that have been successful in the workplace.
A structured methodology using mixed methods was used to gather ideas from a diverse group of stakeholders, people with service dogs, trainers, vocational rehabilitation counselors, and other healthcare professionals, to form a common framework for addressing the issue in future research and development of interventions. The results identified 68 elements that respondents perceived and rated to be important or highly important to the phenomenon.
They were categorized into six clusters: The discussion identified key points that might support the development of successful employment outcomes for people working with service dogs.
Genetics Theoretical and Applied Genetics: International Journal of Plant Breeding Research Many dogs are found to be unsuitable for training as guide dogs for the blind. Consequently the Royal Guide Dogs for the Blind Association of Australia has embarked on a breeding program to produce a strain of labrador dogs which is suitable for guide dog training.
The most common reasons for rejecting dogs are fearfulness, dog distraction, excitability, health and physical reasons and hip dysplasia. The selection program seems to have been successful in improving the success rate mainly by lowering fearfulness, but there has not been a continuing improvement. This is probably due to continual introduction of dogs from other populations into the breeding program. Males suffer from a higher rejection rate due to dog distraction and a lower rejection rate due to fearfulness and excitability than females, so that there is little sex difference in overall success rate.
The heritability of success 0. Variation in environment prior to 6 weeks of age, in age when dogs were placed into a private home and in age when males were castrated, had little effect on the success rate. Insgesamt hatte das Geschlecht einen geringen Einfluss auf die Erfolgsquote. A Preliminary Survey of Current Users. Survey items inquired about the accuracy of DAD alerts, as well as frequency of hypoglycemia, diabetes control, and QoL prior to and since DAD placement.
Grandgeorge, Marine, and Martine Hausberger. There is some evidence that pet presence at home may induce well being in people and the development of social skills in children. Animal assisted therapies aim at developing these skills in patients on the basis of human animal interactions. Experimental data obtained on animal models suggest that this is indeed a promising line.
There is however a lack of clear scientific data that would help defines what the most appropriate procedures or species may be. Improvements are observed, but again sound scientific data are mostly missing. Attention must be given to the welfare of the animals being used. Verbesserungen wurden beobachtet, allerdings fehlen meistens fundierte wissenschaftliche Daten.
Das Wohl der genutzten Assistenztiere muss beachtet werden. The organization Hearing Dogs for Deaf People provides assistance dogs that alert their deaf or hard-of-hearing recipients to key sounds, thus increasing their independence and also providing companionship.
There were a number of significant differences in measures of well-being between the period prior to placing the Hearing Dog and the period after placement, but there were no comparable differences during the year-long waiting period prior to placement of the dog. Recipients reported significant reductions in hearing-related problems such as response to environmental sounds; significant reductions in measures of tension, anxiety, and depression; and significant improvements in social involvement and independence. The longitudinal nature of this study supports evidence that these improvements persist for some time after the placement of a dog, with significant differences being reported, in many cases, up to 18 months after acquiring a dog.
However, there is comparably less literature reporting the effects of pet as opposed to assistance dogs to these children. In particular, there are no known validated scales which assess how children may alter their behaviours in the presence of the dog, to evaluate the efficacy of pet dogs to these families. Additionally, given the highly individualised nature of ASD it is likely that some children and families gain more benefits from dog ownership than others, yet no research has reported the effect of individual differences.
The scale is comprised of three mathematically derived factors: Adaptability, Social Skills and Conflict Management. We assessed how individual differences aspects may be associated with scores on these three factors. Family Aspects and Dog Aspects were not significantly associated with ratings on the three factors, but Child Aspects including: These results suggest that individual differences associated with the child and the training approach may be important considerations for a positive impact from dog ownership on families with children with ASD.
Differences in family features and the dog may not be so important, but may be worthy of further investigations given the early stage of development in this field. Die Skala setzt sich aus drei mathematisch hergeleiteten Faktoren zusammen: Assistance dogs are often written about and featured in human interest pieces that focus on the amazing talents of the dog.
Those studies that do exist focus on the positive elements of partnership. The purpose of this study was twofold: A selected number of disabled people who had been partnered with assistance dogs for over a year participated in interviews. Interviews were performed face-to-face and over the telephone. The interview tool was a predominantly scale-based questionnaire with several open ended questions to capture both qualitative and quantitative information from participants concerning the life changes they have experienced since receiving their dog. The most challenging aspect of owning an assistance dog was the physical act of caring for the dog.
The rewarding aspect of the partnership was independence — both reduced reliance on human caregivers and increased ability to stay home or go out alone — as the major benefit. Secondarily, the respondents reported the emotional aspects of their relationship with their dog having a constant companion and someone to love them unconditionally as a strong positive element of partnership.
Respondent satisfaction was high, both with dog ownership and with the agency. Almost unanimously, interviewees agreed they would get another dog in the future and recommend this agency to friends seeking an assistance dog. Existierende Studien konzentrieren sich auf die positiven Elemente der Partnerschaft. Diese Studie hatte zwei Ziele: Lee Zasloff, and Anne Marie Benfatto. Emotional aspects of owning hearing dogs were explored in 38 hearing-dog owners and a control group of 23 prospective owners.
Both groups listed companionship and hearing assistance as pleasant reasons for owning such dogs. Having a dog and personal independence were reasons mentioned only by prospective owners. Both groups mentioned travel complications as unpleasant problems. A sense of security, their second highest concern, was also addressed. Owners felt safer when they were alone with their hearing dog than before obtaining one. Companionship was the third-rated reason for acquiring the dog and owners reported being significantly less lonely after receiving a hearing dog P The German and Australian longitudinal surveys analysed here are the first national representative surveys to show that 1 people who continuously own a pet are the healthiest group and 2 people who cease to have a pet or never had one are less healthy.
Most previous studies which have claimed that pets confer health benefits were cross-sectional. So they were open to the objection that owners may have been healthier in the first place, rather than becoming healthier due to owning a pet. The relationship remains statistically significant after controlling for gender, age, marital status, income and other variables associated with health. Die meisten Studien, die bisher besagten, dass Haustiere einen positiven Einfluss auf die Gesundheit haben, waren Querschnittsstudien. Hemsworth, S, and B Pizer. Pet ownership has been associated with both emotional and physical health benefits.
However, owning pets may also pose health risks to immunocompromised patients through zoonotic transmission of disease. Our initial impression was that there is a lack of any evidence base in information given by health care professionals regarding these risks. We therefore aimed to produce evidence-based guidelines addressing this issue. A Pubmed search was undertaken and a variety of literature on zoonoses reviewed. Existing guidelines were evaluated and a survey of all Paediatric Oncology Centres in the UK performed. There is a paucity of level 1 and 2 data addressing this issue and clearly more studies, particularly Randomised Controlled Trials RCTs , are required.
Nevertheless, general themes emerged and certain specific guidance was produced based on that produced by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the US. Animal-associated pathogens of concern include Toxoplasma gondii, Cryptosporidium spp. Despite this, the literature would suggest that with the exception of Bartonella henselae and dermatophytes only a relatively small number of infections in people are likely to be associated with pet contact. The majority of pet species do not appear to pose a major risk to immunocompromised children.
Some animals, particularly reptiles, should be avoided because of the high risk of salmonellosis. Guidelines include general advice on good hygiene practices, veterinary care, pet foods, purchasing of new pets and age restrictions. Health care professionals should actively enquire about household pets and provide accurate information and practical advice on how to minimise the risk of infection. However, the overall benefits of the human-animal bond must be considered and with proper handling and husbandry immunocompromised patients should be able to continue to enjoy the significant benefits of pet ownership.
Daher haben wir uns zum Ziel gesetzt, evidenzbasierte Richtlinien zu dieser Fragestellung zu entwickeln. Ohne Zweifel sind weitere Studien erforderlich, insbesondere randomisierte kontrollierte Studien. Aus der Fachliteratur geht jedoch hervor, dass abgesehen von Infektionen durch Bartonella henselae und Dermatophyten wahrscheinlich nur wenige menschliche Infektionen durch Kontakte mit Haustieren verursacht werden. Auf einige Tiere, insbesondere Reptilien, sollten jedoch wegen des relativ hohen Salmonellose-Risikos verzichtet werden. Fact, Fiction, or Hypothesis? But while some researchers have reported that positive effects accrue from interacting with animals, others have found that the health and happiness of pet owners is no better, and in some cases worse, than that of non-pet owners.
A Meta-analytic Review", July 27, , http: Clinical Applications and Research 6, no. Understanding the psychology of the domestic dog is a key element in both research and clinical applications for veterinary behaviorists. This article summarizes social cognitive skills observed in dogs in recent cognition studies. The tasks are grouped into the following 2 categories: We also describe easy-to-implement experimental paradigms, previously used in cognitive tests for adult dogs, which we recommend adapting for use with puppies as young as 3 weeks of age.
We highlight specific ways by which breeders may alter setup of these tasks to further generalize the social cognitive benefits for the puppies. Furthermore, studies of social development in puppies would enable researchers to explore whether encouragement of the skills examined have a positive effect on behavior as adults, and should thus be specifically incorporated into socialization practices by all breeders and new owners. Thus, the practical applications of this knowledge could include informing best practices for early age socialization by breeders, while puppies are still in the litter, and by new owners when they initially acquire a puppy.
This could potentially increase the number of dogs that are well adjusted for human society and thus reduce the number surrendered to shelters. Finally, we discuss the ethical implications of working with puppies in particular and with companion animals generally; the positioning of veterinary clinicians and researchers between the scientific and lay worlds can improve understanding within the community of the benefits that minimally invasive companion animal research can provide.
Service dogs help people with mobility impairments. They are trained to perform a variety of tasks, such as opening doors, retrieving the telephone, picking up objects, and pulling manual wheelchairs MWCs. More specifically, using the traction provided by the service dog has physical benefits because MWC users can operate their MWCs with less effort. The objective of this study was to document the effect of a service dog on MWC mobility and user shoulder pain, social participation, and quality of life.
Eleven MWC users with spinal cord injury were assessed before and after training with a service dog and 7 mo later. Based on a standardized protocol, all study participants learned how to use the service dog safely and how to move around efficiently in different environments and under different conditions. Results showed that using a service dog increased the distance covered by the MWC users and also significantly decreased shoulder pain and intensity of effort.
Using the service dog also produced slight but significant improvements in MWC user skills and social participation and may indicate a trend for improvement in quality of life. More extensive research is needed to precisely identify the effect of service dogs on the long-term management of MWC use. Trained therapy dogs are becoming an increasingly common sight in many educational and health care settings. This article, coauthored by a college professor, a Therapy Dogs International, Inc.
Johnson RA et al. To identify to what extent an animal-assisted activity i. Radiation oncology units of two hospitals in a mid-sized, midwestern city. After giving informed consent, participants were randomly assigned to receive 12 dog visits, 12 human visits, or 12 quiet reading sessions over a four-week period. No statistically significant differences were found; however, compared with others their age, patients receiving dog visits viewed their health as improved over the four-week period.
Participants described each of the three activities as beneficial. The study is primarily useful as a basis for planning additional research. The study warrants replication with a larger sample to determine applicability of animal-assisted activity in patients with cancer who are undergoing radiation therapy. Patients may want and express benefit from animal-assisted activity dog visits, but the outcomes of the visits may not be measureable.
Nurses should assess to what extent patients believe that such visits are beneficial by asking them. The visits may be valued by patients as helping to relieve their anxiety and as distractions from their disease and therapy. Es wurden keine signifikanten Unterschiede deutlich. Animal visitation programs have been used in a wide variety of clinical settings with predominantly positive outcomes reported anecdotally. However, there is also a growing body of research investigating the effects of these interventions.
Developing and conducting rigorous studies of animal interventions can be a complex and challenging process. The purpose of this article is to identify and discuss several issues arising with this type of research and to posit suggestions for avoiding pitfalls. Tier-Besuchs-Programme wurden in vielen klinischen Bereichen genutzt.
Dennoch gibt es eine wachsende Anzahl an Forschungsarbeiten, die die Auswirkungen dieser Interventionen untersuchen. This study is the first to demonstrate that human yawns are possibly contagious to domestic dogs Canis familiaris. Twenty-nine dogs observed a human yawning or making control mouth movements. Twenty-one dogs yawned when they observed a human yawning, but control mouth movements did not elicit yawning from any of them.
The presence of contagious yawning in dogs suggests that this phenomenon is not specific to primate species and may indicate that dogs possess the capacity for a rudimentary form of empathy. Since yawning is known to modulate the levels of arousal, yawn contagion may help coordinate dog-human interaction and communication. Understanding the mechanism as well as the function of contagious yawning between humans and dogs requires more detailed investigation. To date, hormonal influence in interspecies interaction has not been examined. Bis jetzt wurde der hormonelle Einfluss bei Interaktionen zwischen zwei Spezies nicht untersucht.
Domestic dogs comprehend human gestural communication in a way that other animal species do not. But little is known about the specific cues they use to determine when human communication is intended for them. In a series of four studies, we confronted both adult dogs and young dog puppies with object choice tasks in which a human indicated one of two opaque cups by either pointing to it or gazing at it.
Haushunde verstehen gestische Kommunikation der Menschen auf ein Art und Weise wie keine andere Spezies. In einer Serie von vier Studien wurden erwachsenen Hunden und Hundewelpen eine Aufgabe zur Auswahl des richtigen Gegenstands gestellt, bei denen ein Mensch auf eine von zwei undurchsichtigen Schalen hindeutete, indem er entweder auf sie zeigte oder sie anstarrte. Die genannten Faktoren sind genau die kommunikativen Signale, die auch Kleinkinder beachten, um kommunikative Intention festzustellen.
Kirchhofer, Katharina C et al. Chimpanzees routinely follow the gaze of humans to outside targets. However, in most studies using object choice they fail to use communicative gestures e. They may, for example, misinterpret the gesture as referring to the opaque cup instead of the hidden food. Or perhaps they do not understand informative communicative intentions. In contrast, dogs seem to be skillful in using human communicative cues in the context of finding food, but as of yet there is not much data showing whether they also use pointing in the context of finding non-food objects.
Pairs of objects were placed in view of and behind the subjects. The task was to retrieve the object the experimenter wanted. To indicate which one she desired, the experimenter pointed imperatively to it and directly rewarded the subject for handing over the correct one. While dogs performed well on this task, chimpanzees failed to identify the referent. Oder sie verstehen keine informativen kommunikativen Absichten. Im Gegensatz dazu scheinen Hunde geschickt darin zu sein, kommunikative Signale von Menschen im Bezug auf die Suche nach Nahrung zu erkennen, allerdings gibt es nicht viele Daten, die belegen, ob Hunde auch Zeigegesten nutzen, um andere Objekte als Nahrung zu finden.
Objekt-Paare wurden sichtbar vor und hinter die Tiere gestellt. Die Aufgabe war, das Objekt zu holen, das der Experimentator haben wollte. Evaluation of a Formal Training Program. Evidence supporting seizure-related behaviors in dogs is emerging. The methods of seizure response dog SRD training programs are unstudied. A standardized survey was retrospectively applied to graduates of a large SRD program. Subjective changes in quality of life QOL parameters were explored. Data were captured on animal characteristics, training methods, response and alerting behaviors, effects on seizure frequency, and accuracy of epilepsy diagnosis.
That SRD programs may select genuine epilepsy patients, instill valuable assistance skills, and generate meaningful QOL improvements supports further seizure dog research. Die Methoden der Ausbildung von Anfalls-Hilfshunden sind unerforscht. Knight S, and Edwards V. The increase in aging populations has implications for the provision of health and social services. A preventative approach is taken to address this problem by examining a mechanism that can enhance physical health and reduce minor ailments.
Participants in 10 focus groups discussed physical, psychological, and social benefits associated with human-dog interactions. Interaction between humans and dogs is a mechanism that can enhance the physical and psychological health of elderly citizens and promote a social support network between dog owners. In turn, dependence and impact on health and social services are alleviated. The social and community consequences of promoting dog ownership in the elderly are addressed, and it is concluded that the benefits of dog ownership should be promoted among the elderly and acknowledged by relevant agencies.
Zu diesem Zweck diskutierten zehn Teilnehmer in Fokusgruppen die physischen, psychologischen und sozialen Vorteile, die mit Mensch-Hund-Interaktionen verbunden werden. Research has examined the physiological and psychosocial impact of animal-assisted activities AAA and animal-assisted therapy AAT. The current review article summarizes the benefits of AAA and AAT for hospitalized patients with medical disorders, psychiatric patients, and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities. The literature regarding inclusion of animals in business and organizational settings is also reviewed.
Although there is clear evidence of improved physical and psychological health from AAA and AAT in the civilian population, there is a dearth of published findings of the evaluation of such benefits for military personnel. Lakatos, Gabriella et al. The aim of the present investigation was to study the visual communication between humans and dogs in relatively complex situations. In the present research, we have modelled more lifelike situations in contrast to previous studies which often relied on using only two potential hiding locations and direct association between the communicative signal and the signalled object.
In Study 1, we have provided the dogs with four potential hiding locations, two on each side of the experimenter to see whether dogs are able to choose the correct location based on the pointing gesture. In Study 2, dogs had to rely on a sequence of pointing gestures displayed by two different experimenters. In Study 3, we have examined whether dogs can understand indirect information about a hidden object and direct the owner to the particular location.
Study 1 has revealed that dogs are unlikely to rely on extrapolating precise linear vectors along the pointing arm when relying on human pointing gestures. Instead, they rely on a simple rule of following the side of the human gesturing. If there were more targets on the same side of the human, they showed a preference for the targets closer to the human.
Study 2 has shown that dogs are able to rely on indirect pointing gestures but the individual performances suggest that this skill may be restricted to a certain level of complexity. In Study 3, we have found that dogs are able to localise the hidden object by utilising indirect human signals, and they are able to convey this information to their owner.
Das Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war, die visuelle Kommunikation zwischen Menschen und Hunden in relativ komplexen Situationen zu untersuchen. In der zweiten Studie mussten sich Hunde auf eine Sequenz von Zeigegesten von zwei unterschiedlichen Experimentatoren verlassen.
Es wurde untersucht, ob Hunde in der Lage sind, ein indirektes Signal zeigen auf einen Zeiger zu erkennen. Stattdessen folgen sie einfach der Seite, die der Mensch anzeigt. In der dritten Studie wurde herausgefunden, dass Hunde in der Lage sind, versteckte Objekte durch indirekte Signale von Menschen zu finden und diese Information ihrem Besitzer zu vermitteln.
R, J McNicholas, and G. Dogs for the Disabled is an organisation recently established in the UK to provide trained assistance dogs to enhance the mobility and independence of people with physical disabilities. Subjects reported an increased sense of social integration, enhancement to self-perceived health, and an affectionate, often supportive, relationship with their dog. These differences were small but statistically significant and may be a useful predictor in future applicants of the success of the working relationship.
Larson BR et al. The purpose of this study was to explore whether cancer patients, who are actively receiving cancer therapy and who sometimes have only a few months to live, have anxieties or concerns that arise as a result of not being able to care for their pets during their illness or after their demise.
A survey was developed and utilized among such patients to assess whether they had pet-related concerns and anxieties and to determine whether they desired more information on available pet-related resources. The majority described that their pets helped them during their cancer. The median interval between repeated AAT sessions was five days. One hundred and fifty-three codings related to the content, i. Stroking the therapy dog was described most often. Protocols included typical exercises with the therapy dog , chiefly feeding the dog as well as exercises and activities requiring a certain measure of physical energy and coordination.
Sit-gesture with right hand for Sit and Down. Taking snacks out of his left hand, from under his arm, repeated nudging, skin contact, feeling and touching of fur. The content and activities of an AAT intervention could be adapted to the current needs and inclination of the respective patient. This patient-centred implementation was documented in 12 patients. Upon which she asks which material we used the last time.
The therapeutic interaction promoted conversation between dog handlers and patients. Five patients talked about dying and death , three of those found distraction in the interactions with the therapy dog. Starts to swallow hard when talking about last diagnosis, eyes full of tears, then concentrates on Lotti and is able to enjoy some moments with her in the bed..
In order to investigate the effect of AAT on palliative care patients, we determined codes identifying the effect of AAT. All in all, codes could be assigned to nine subcategories. The dog handlers recorded patient emotions evoked during AAT, chiefly pleasure. Further emotions evoked during AAT and observed by the dog handler or relatives were: Furthermore, it was remarkable to note in nine patients that the AAT intervention gave rise to episodes involving humour. A therapy dog uses its behaviour, i. Some patients realised and understood this and reflected on it.
Thus, observing the therapy dog and verbalising the mirrored behaviour enabled these patients to reflect upon their own emotions. He speaks about his experiences with dogs and animals, how beneficial these were for him, occasionally about the relationships one has with animals. This causes him to think about his children, he talks about them, his suicide attempt and his other thoughts. As a consequence of the targeted interaction with the therapy dog, patients feel either activated or relaxed and calm.
The physical contact and the interaction with the dog may promote a sense of closeness and trust. During AAT a varying degree of behavioural activation was observed. Protocols included information on whether a patient could be motivated by means of the interaction with the therapy dog, whether they needed support in interacting or dealing with the dog or whether they could not be activated or motivated during the AAT session in general.
Only a third of the patients had a second AAT session. For those who did not receive a further intervention, the following two reasons were identified: The frequent occurrence of patient death in palliative care is a common phenomenon which constitutes a limiting factor and a challenge for rigorous evidence-based palliative care research [ 19 ]. The present study described the current practice of a newly implemented AAT concept with AAT sessions currently offered twice a week, however, most patients in our study received only one AAT session.
Relatively short average length of stay at the specialised palliative care unit serves as a limiting factor for repeated interventions, however, this study was not aimed at identifying the optimal dose of AAT for a diverse range of indications and this will need to be looked at in research projects going forward. Interestingly, there is no robust evidence at present that higher frequency of AAT interventions improves outcomes. To the contrary, a study by Banks and Banks looked at reducing loneliness in an elderly population in long-term care facilities by AAT, comparing AAT facilitation once a week and three times a week, respectively.
They found that AAT once a week was as effective as three times a week in reducing loneliness in long-term care residents [ 20 ]. However, most of these patients expressed their desire to continue with the AAT session in spite of existing symptom burden. This finding supports the positive effect of tailoring therapy duration to individual patient needs. At the same time it is important to also consider the welfare of the therapy dog, for instance in terms of signs of discomfort and exhaustion. Even though there are various palliative care facilities currently offering AAT or animal-assisted activity AAA , there is still a paucity of scientific research demonstrating their efficacy and feasibility [ 22 ].
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A German study conducted by Gottschling et al. To date, there exist no clearly formulated therapeutic indications of using AAT in palliative care settings. It is for this reason that the researchers of the present study chose patients based on psycho-socio-emotional burden and distress and therefore with regard to possible treatment objectives of AAT, e. The contact phase is mainly intended for those activities targeting the respective therapy objectives.
In this context, tactile interaction with the therapy dog was of central importance. It was achieved by means of touching, patting or stroking the therapy dog or having it lie on the patient bed beside the patient. Several studies documented that human relaxation as a consequence of interaction with animals was closely associated with increased levels of oxytocin, endorphins and a decreased cortisol level [ 9 , 24 , 25 ].
As a more intermediate effect, and different from the immediate relaxation, AAT seemed to cause behavioural activation in some palliative care patients. Petting the dog and building rapport appeared to motivate patients to initiate reciprocity and willingness to engage in playful interaction with the dog. This observation has been reported in the literature before. For an example, Berry described the same finding for AAT as utilised in working with geriatric patients [ 12 ].
Pleasure was recorded most often and was associated with the presence of and interaction with the dog. On the other hand, they occasionally observed sadness during the encounters with the therapy dog, but also recorded that the therapy dog eventually calmed and distracted the patients during the AAT session. Another emotion observed in the patients by the dog handlers was humour. For several palliative care patients, the dog handlers documented observing increased self-efficacy as a result of AAT. This finding is in line with the study by Berget et al.
The protocols often included reports of how patients frequently talked about topics like their own disease, death and dying and that the encounter with the therapy dog enhanced the initiation of such conversations, supporting the assumption that AAT may be a valuable therapeutic tool to promote positive social interaction and communication. The present study described a single centre application of AAT and gave a first descriptive indication of potential beneficial effects of AAT in a palliative care setting. This descriptive, qualitative study has clear limitations and caution should be used in generalising from these single centre findings.
The small study sample, the low number of therapy sessions and the qualitative analysis of AAT session protocols written by two different dog handlers constitute clear limitations of the present study. Moreover, the findings are based on the perceptions of the handlers and are not necessarily based on what actually occurred. We described the structure and process of implementing AAT as an adjunctive therapy option and described potentially beneficial patient outcomes on a variety of psychosocial distress symptoms as observed in this particular cohort of palliative care patients.
There is an urgent need of further qualitative research studies to thoroughly investigate possible effects on palliative care patients. It is further recommended to develop clearly formulated and research-based therapeutic indications of AAT in palliative care. It might also be of scientific interest to analyse videotaped patient-animal encounters to be able to describe non-verbal interaction phenomena in detail. We would like to thank the two dog handlers for their collegial cooperation, especially Melanie Spiwoks for her detailed documentation of the AAT interventions.
We thank staff members of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Palliative Medicine for their support during this project. MB and AS share first authorship as they contributed equally to this project. AS contributed to the study design analysis of data, preparation of the manuscript and study coordination. MB analysed the data and wrote the manuscript.
CSQ contributed to the study design, analysis of data and prepared the manuscript providing critical revisions. KF and CM read the manuscript providing critical revisions. All authors contributed to reading and approving the final manuscript. All included patients gave informed consent to participate in this study. All patients gave informed consent to publication of the data presented in this study.
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Published online Oct 2. Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer. Received Dec 29; Accepted Aug Associated Data Data Availability Statement Original data and material supporting the findings of this study can be found at the corresponding author. Abstract Background Animal-assisted therapy AAT is a therapeutic concept, which has only recently been explored in more detail within the palliative care setting.
Methods This study is a qualitative content analysis of all post-encounter protocols of AAT interventions recorded by the dog handlers from June through May Results Fifty-two patients received 84 AAT interventions, with only 18 patients receiving more than one intervention due to discharge or death. Conclusions AAT may constitute a valuable and practicable adjunct to the interdisciplinary therapeutic repertoire of palliative care in the hospital setting. Palliative care, Animal-assisted therapy, Dog. Background Palliative care attends to health care needs of persons with progressive and life-limiting diseases.
Open in a separate window. Intervention All AAT interventions were performed in the palliative care unit. Schedule Content Introduction Greeting of patient Observation Introducing the dog and motivational conversation, during which the patient has the opportunity to observe the dog predominantly directed interaction Contact Patient-dog activities e.
AAT characteristics During the month observation period, 52 patients received 84 AAT sessions by two teams of therapy companion dogs and their respective handlers per patient: Number of interventions, 52 patients received a total of 83 AAT interventions. Categories The defined raw material produced codes yielding 21 subcategories. Inductive coding produced four main categories: AAT practice and environmental factors.
Table 3 Coding guideline. Was pleased, suggested a walk on the hospital premises, talked about his situation when arriving at the hospital, on the ward. Patients is pleased to see therapy dog again. Lotti greets her at the bedside, initiates physical contact by laying her head onto the bed and nudging the patient.
Patient is already talking about a photo session planned for next week. Then she shows her own photos and the video made during the last contact. Table 4 Coding list. Patient requests another appointment. Starts to swallow hard when talking about last diagnosis, eyes full of tears, then concentrates on Lotti and is able to enjoy some moments with her in the bed. Says Lotti is looking for her calmness and makes her calm.
He strokes and cuddles her very intensively. He wants her to lie in his bed. Lotti lies down next to him and allows every degree of closeness he is seeking.
At the same time, her voice becomes weaker. But then she turns to Lotti again, is able to find pleasure in the interaction and decides herself to try a trick as a farewell. Content of AAT sessions One hundred and fifty-three codings related to the content, i. During interventions the dog could lie on the bed. Upon request or permission by the patient, the AAT session was captured in a picture. Limitations This descriptive, qualitative study has clear limitations and caution should be used in generalising from these single centre findings.
Acknowledgements We would like to thank the two dog handlers for their collegial cooperation, especially Melanie Spiwoks for her detailed documentation of the AAT interventions. Funding For the present study no funding was obtained.
Availability of data and materials Original data and material supporting the findings of this study can be found at the corresponding author. Consent for publication All patients gave informed consent to publication of the data presented in this study. Competing interests The authors declare no competing interests.