NCT02997852

Biobehavioral Effects of Therapy Dog Visitation in Elderly Intensive Care Unit Patients: A Pilot and Feasibility Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 15 (actual)
• Sponsor: The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess the preliminary efficacy of a 10-minute therapy dog visitation (TDV) in reducing biobehavioral stress responses.

Conditions

• Psychosocial Stress

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Therapy dog visitation	The TDV will consist of a 10-minute visit from the same Faithful Paws animal handler and her dog. Each therapy dog meets obedience, temperament, and health standards appropriate to therapy dog visitation in hospital settings. The dog will be leashed and under control of the animal handler and the TDV will be casual and not restrict the handler with conversing, which is standard practice in TDV. Visual and tactile contact with the dog will be promoted by the animal handler. Per hospital protocol, the patient will be assisted in washing his/her hands before and after the TDV and the dog will be placed on the bed or remain at the bedside in close proximity allowing petting. A clean sheet will be placed over the patient when the dog is placed on the bed. The research staff will collect data before and after each arm of the study.

Timeline

• Start date: 2016-07-25
• Primary completion: 2018-02-26
• Completion: 2018-02-26
• First posted: 2016-12-20
• Last updated: 2018-11-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States