Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 May;109(5):1049-1056.
doi: 10.1111/apa.15047. Epub 2019 Oct 22.

Children report positive experiences of animal-assisted therapy in paediatric hospital care

Maria Lindström Nilsson  1 , Eva-Lotta Funkquist  1 , Ann Edner  1 , Gunn Engvall  1
Affiliations

Children report positive experiences of animal-assisted therapy in paediatric hospital care

Maria Lindström Nilsson et al. Acta Paediatr. 2020 May.

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate children's experiences of and responses to animal-assisted therapy using a therapy dog as complementary treatment in paediatric hospital care.

Methods: The study was performed using mixed methods, by means of qualitative and quantitative data. Fifty children in a paediatric surgery ward, at a tertiary hospital in Sweden, were included between February 2016 to May 2017. Children answered questions about feelings of well-being and experiences of the hospital stay before and after animal-assisted therapy, and experiences of their interaction with a therapy dog.

Results: The children's well-being increased from moderately good before to very good after animal-assisted therapy, and the children assessed the hospital stay as better after than before. The vast majority of the children (93%) assessed the interaction with the dog as very good. The children described mixed experiences before and mainly positive aspects of joy, satisfaction and pain relief after animal-assisted therapy.

Conclusion: The children's responses before interaction, of both a positive and negative nature, show a focus shift after the interaction with a therapy dog to mainly positive nature regarding self-reported feeling of well-being and experiences of the hospital stay. Using a therapy dog in paediatric hospital care is suitable complementary treatment.

Keywords: animal-assisted therapy; assessment; children; experience; hospital.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Wangmo T, Ruhe KM, Badarau DO, Kuhne T, Niggli F, Elger BS. Parents' and patients' experiences with paediatric oncology care in Switzerland-satisfaction and some hurdles. Swiss Med Wkly. 2016;146:w14309.
    1. Kassa AM, Engvall G, Engstrand LH. Young children with severe congenital malformations (VACTERL) expressed mixed feelings about their condition and worries about needles and anaesthesia. Acta Paediatr. 2017;106(10):1694-1701.
    1. Li W, Chung J, Ho KY, Kwok B. Play interventions to reduce anxiety and negative emotions in hospitalized children. BMC pediatr. 2016;16:36.
    1. Bjork M, Wiebe T, Hallstrom I. Striving to survive: families' lived experiences when a child is diagnosed with cancer. J Pediatr Oncol Nurs. 2005;22(5):265-275.
    1. Heden L, von Essen L, Ljungman G. The relationship between fear and pain levels during needle procedures in children from the parents' perspective. Eur J Cancer Care. 2016;20(2):223-230.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources