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Animal-Facilitated Therapy Program: Outcomes from Caring Canines, a Program for Patients and Staff on an Inpatient
Pamela Ginex1, Mary Montefusco2, Glenn Zecco
1Oncology Nursing Society.
Background:
Animal-facilitated therapy (AFT) is a complementary medicine intervention. To the authors' knowledge, no study has investigated the benefits of an AFT program in an adult surgical oncology setting.
Objectives:
The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of an AFT program on patients and staff on a surgical oncology unit.
Methods:
A quasiexperimental design was used for the patient group, and a pre-/post-test design was used for the staff group. The intervention involved the AFT program being fully integrated on a surgical inpatient unit. Outcomes included patient-reported symptoms and quality-of-life (QOL) outcomes for patients, as well as professional QOL for staff.
Findings:
QOL indicators improved for all patients, and the level of energy at follow-up was significantly higher in the AFT group after adjusting for baseline. For staff, compassion satisfaction was high and burnout was low.
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