Psychosocial effects of Assisted Therapy with Dogs in older people: Bibliographic review

Identifier:  TFG:2080

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TFG2080

Authors:  Fermosell Roca, Lídia

Abstract:
Introduction The aging state brings new scenarios in daily life, both psychological and social. Among the therapies focused to prevent and control these psychosocial changes we find the Animal Assisted Therapy (TAA). Within the TAA, the study focuses on Dog Assisted Therapy, which through animal-person interaction can tackle the different psychosocial symptoms that appear at this stage of life. Objectives The aim of the study is to study the psychosocial effects of Dog Assisted Therapy in people over 65 years old. Methodology The study was carried out through a systematic bibliographical review of scientific literature related to Dog Assisted Therapy in the elderly between the months October (2018) and February (2019). The information is extracted from articles from databases of health sciences (Pubmed, Scopus, Cinhal), scientific journals and books from the last 10 years. The analysis of the articles has been done through the reading of these and the results obtained from different questionnaires and scales. Results The results of the study show numerous psychosocial benefits by the Dog Assisted Therapy towards the elderly. Among these we find the improvement of the quality of life, the reduction of the depressive state and anxiety, the increase of the social interaction and the decrease of the feeling of loneliness, the improvement of the cognitive state and the increase of memory, accompaniment and entertainment. Conclusions Dog Assisted Therapy can be considered a valid therapy in the improvement of the psychosocial effects that the ageing stage entails.