Document Type

Capstone

Abstract

Pet care, for the older adult population, may become problematic after returning home from a recent hospital or rehabilitation stay, due to illness and/or injury. A safe pet care guide was developed, to assist the older adult population, with caring for their pets after they returned home from the hospital or a rehabilitation facility. The safe pet care guide includes information related to safe body movements during pet care activities, products available to assist with pet care, changes to the home, and local pet care resources. Additional safety tips were included to correspond to each area addressed. The manual was well received by both the clients and the therapists that participated in the needs assessment and follow-up questionnaire. All individuals involved agreed that the safe pet care guide could be easily implemented by the clients in the home and by the therapists either in a rehabilitation facility or those who worked in the home health field. Two local home health companies were contacted and meetings were set to present the safe pet care manual. The first home health company was interested in a portion of the manual but required corporate approval before implementing into their already existing fall prevention program. The second home health company, which provides home health only to the patients of their sub-acute facility, implemented the manual immediately, as a resource for inhouse and home health. The local Humane Society will keep an electronic copy available if the need presents itself, as they have limited sources available to help older adults in this situation. Making this resource available to the older adult population has the potential to decrease the difficulty and fall risk associated with pet care after illness and/or injury and keep clients and pets safe.

Publication Date

2017

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