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Animal assisted therapy among elderly patients with dementia: a systematic literature review

Vogt, Janina (2013) Animal assisted therapy among elderly patients with dementia: a systematic literature review.

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Abstract:The aim of this bachelor thesis was to examine effects of cognitive functions, behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, social aspects, physiological changes and other effects of animal assisted therapy - especially that of dogs - on people suffering from dementia. With the aid of a systematic review of literature the current state of research was analyzed systematically. Search engines used in the systematic literature review were PsycINFO, Scopus and PubMed. In addition, other relevant articles were obtained using free text search. A classification in categories of all search terms into five groups yielded an overall of 154 articles that were then analyzed after conclusive studying of their titles and abstracts and their final full text versions, while still keeping in mind the predefined criteria of inclusion and exclusion. Thus the research yielded a total of fifteen relevant articles. The results of the studies showed that especially in the field of social aspects the utilization of animal assisted therapy promotes a distinct increase of competences of those affected. In the other four categories an improvement of abilities and facilities through animal assisted therapy was not substantiated. A fundamental problem when comparing the analyzed studies was the absence of comparability of the deployment of dogs, instruments of measurements, and missing control groups.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology BSc (56604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/64194
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