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Volume 8 Journal of Palliative Care & Medicine
ISSN: 2165-7386 Geriatrics 2018
July 30-31, 2018
July 30-31, 2018 | Barcelona, Spain
8th International Conference on
Geriatrics Gerontology & Palliative Nursing
Effectiveness of a dog-assisted therapy programme to enhance quality of life in institutionalized
dementia patients
María Ángeles Briones Peralta, Pardo-García, Isabel and Escribano Sotos Francisco
University of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
Background: In recent years, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been the subject of a number of studies to determine its
effectiveness in treating aspects of dementia such as pyschobehavioural, relational and/or cognitive disorders. However, there
remains a significant shortfall in knowledge about the impact of these therapies on patients’ quality of life or their effect on the
use of psychotropic medication. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a dog-assisted therapy with regard to the
use of psychotropic medication and quality of life in persons with dementia institutionalized in a public care home.
Methods: A dog-assisted therapy intervention was designed, in which 34 residents of a public residential aged care facility in
Cuenca (Spain) participated. The participants were assigned to two groups, one experimental group and one control group.
The programme consisted of one weekly 50-minute session during nine months. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used
to compare post training values between groups, using baseline values as covariates.
Results: Pre- and post-intervention measures of various physical and psychological variables were obtained. Although we
found no significant differences in any of the groups, we did find enhancements in quality of life in both, intervention and
control group, but no improvements in relation to the use of psychotropic medication.
Conclusions: Animal-assisted therapies may enhance quality of life in dementia patients in aged care homes, but it is not a
substitute of the pharmacological treatment.
Biography
María Ángeles Briones Peralta has obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Master’s degree in Socio Sanitary
Research from the Center for Socio-Health Studies (CESS) of the UCLM, Master in Gender Equality at the UCLM and currently she is a PhD student in Socio
Sanitaria Research and the Physical activity. She has professional experience with older people since 1988 and from 2000 she is the Director of Nursing Home of
the Diputación de Cuenca and currently Coordinator of Social Services of this deputation.
María Ángeles Briones Peralta et al., J Palliat Care Med 2018, Volume 8
DOI: 10.4172/2165-7386-C2-018