Document Type

Capstone

Abstract

Occupational therapy (OT) is an evidence-based and effective therapeutic approach; however, patient compliance and participation are the most significant factors determining outcome measures. Animal Assisted Therapy (AA T) is a therapeutic approach used for various disorders and medical diagnoses and has been showing strong growth in recent years. Animal-assisted therapy is the interaction of a patient and a trained animal to aid the patients' progress toward their functional goals and is a valuable complement to OT. The purpose of this study is to examine the evidence-based research supporting the inclusion of AAT during skilled OT interventions to improve clinical impact. Participants were contacted by email and invited to participate in the study. The researcher sent 58 invites lo individuals, with 34 accepting. As a result of COVID-19 mandates at the time of the project, six (18%) participants received the presentations in person and 28 (82%) of the participants received the presentations virtually. An in-service was designed using the accumulated evidence-based research and presented to the participants. The researcher employed a pre-and post-survey to determine if the in-service was able to inform and educate participants of the benefit AA T has on patients and improve their AA T perspective. The accumulated results indicated that the participants demonstrated improved knowledge of AA T and its benefit on patients. Participants also showed increased support and interest in AA T following the presentation.

Publication Date

4-8-2021

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