Physiological effects of animal-assisted therapy on adults receiving inpatient rehabilitation services

Capstone Catalog
1

I am seeking to describe the physiological effects of Animal-Assisted therapy on patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation services. My study is using salivary cortisol, heart rate, blood pressure, Wong-Baker FACES scale, and a self-perceived stress scale rating to investigate if the participant is affected physiologically before and after interaction with the therapy animal.

Student name: Ashlinn Garner
Name of Mentor: Ms. Mary Bowman
School: University of Alabama Birmingham (UAB)
Capstone setting: Inpatient Rehabilitation at Spain Rehabilitation Center in conjunction with Hand in Paw
Virtual / In-person / Hybrid: In-person

Capstone Objectives:

  1. Describe the physiological effects of Animal-Assisted therapy on patients receiving inpatient rehabilitation services.
  2. Investigate if salivary cortisol is affected before and after interaction with the therapy animal.

Method/Design/Approach:

Non-randomized control trial with a pretest/posttest study design

Results/Outcomes:

To be determined! This project will conclude in December 2024

Conclusions:

To be determined! This project will conclude in December 2024

2-3 ideas for future directions to build on on this project:

  1. A true RCT would greatly add to the current literature on animal-assisted therapy as there are very few published.
  2. Repeating this study but in a community setting or school-system would be beneficial!

Reflections on how you see this project influencing your OT career trajectory:

I was fortunate to get to experience hippotherapy as one of my level II fieldworks, but I have always had a passion for the work therapy dogs and facility dogs add to patient’s lives. I would love to work somewhere with a facility dog and incorporate the skills of the dog into therapy sessions for improved patient participation in therapy. When completing the literature review, there were few studies on animal assisted therapy in how it can impact the patient physiologically (HR, blood pressure, pain scale, and salivary cortisol). My intended study purpose is to bridge this gap and add to the literature.

2

@ashlinn this is awesome! I can’t wait to see your results! @sharon16 Just added her profile to the OT Near Me directory, and I feel like you need to check out her work! It seems like you have a similar passion.