Animal-Assisted Therapy for people with dementia
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Bonding at the very end: Emerging personhood during end-of-life and palliative care through Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT)
IRAS ID
248722
Contact name
Cristina Raluca Douglas
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 0 days
Research summary
The research explores how people with dementia and therapy-animals are understood in terms of being and interacting as persons, as well as what kind of knowledge about the diagnosis emerge during Animal-Assisted Therapy provided for people with dementia.
Animal-Assisted Therapy is defined as an activity provided by a handler and his/her animal (e.g. dog, cat, rabbit, bird, horse) for somebody living with a certain medical condition/illness. In my research, I will focus mostly on therapy-dogs, owls and exotic species for people with dementia living in care homes. I will explore how people with dementia interact with care homes' staff during and outside therapy-animal meetings, as well as how they interact with the animals and the people present during these meetings (e.g. family members; volunteers).
The research will be conducted for 12 months. The primary methods I will use are participant observation (accompanying and observing volunteers during animal-assisted therapy meetings and various activities in the care homes) and interviewing the residents, care homes' staff, family members, volunteers, canine trainers and veterinarians.
The aim of this research is to explore and offer potential alternatives of understanding cognition and affection of people with dementia based on interspecies relationships, as well as how these might challenge our understandings relations with companion animals in our society.
Although the benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy have been previously documented, these were mostly statistical or experimental studies and there is none that explores the relationship between therapy-animals and people with dementia using a long-term qualitative approach.
Given the increased number of people living with dementia, the moral imperative of offering them activities that enhance their quality of life, as well as the rising literature documenting the benefits of companion animals, I hope that my research will contribute to new approaches and policies of care for people with dementia.REC name
Scotland A: Adults with Incapacity only
REC reference
19/SS/0020
Date of REC Opinion
4 Apr 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion