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Children report positive experiences of animal‐assisted therapy in paediatric hospital care
Author(s) -
Lindström Nilsson Maria,
Funkquist EvaLotta,
Edner Ann,
Engvall Gunn
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.15047
Subject(s) - medicine , feeling , animal assisted therapy , pediatrics , pet therapy , animal welfare , psychology , social psychology , ecology , biology
Aim To evaluate children's experiences of and responses to animal‐assisted therapy using a therapy dog as complementary treatment in paediatric hospital care. Methods The study was performed using mixed methods, by means of qualitative and quantitative data. Fifty children in a paediatric surgery ward, at a tertiary hospital in Sweden, were included between February 2016 to May 2017. Children answered questions about feelings of well‐being and experiences of the hospital stay before and after animal‐assisted therapy, and experiences of their interaction with a therapy dog. Results The children's well‐being increased from moderately good before to very good after animal‐assisted therapy, and the children assessed the hospital stay as better after than before. The vast majority of the children (93%) assessed the interaction with the dog as very good. The children described mixed experiences before and mainly positive aspects of joy, satisfaction and pain relief after animal‐assisted therapy. Conclusion The children's responses before interaction, of both a positive and negative nature, show a focus shift after the interaction with a therapy dog to mainly positive nature regarding self‐reported feeling of well‐being and experiences of the hospital stay. Using a therapy dog in paediatric hospital care is suitable complementary treatment.