animal assisted therapy

• Choose a chronic condition from Exhibit 14.1. see below
• Describe how the patient may benefit from animal-assisted therapy, and explain how this impacts their disease process in a positive manner.
• Provide two references less than five years old about your chosen condition. Please summarize the reference with regards to your chosen condition.

Another example is of an 80-year-old man with dementia was agitated and aggressive. The resident and caregivers received health services in the Dementia Care Clinic at the university hospital, and the caregiver indicated that the subject. university hospital, and the caregiver indicated that the subject had serious problem behaviors. Due to severe delusion, the resident did not sleep at night. After an interview, it was discovered that the resident had loved birds in the past. Therefore, the suggestion was given to the caregiver to purchase a birdcage and help the resident breed a parrot. Because this resident was in a middle stage of dementia, his caregiver had to help in feeding the bird, changing the water, and cleaning up. The birdcage was hung at the resident’s eye level, and he was encouraged to speak to the bird and to teach the bird to say “hello” and “thank you.” Daily, after breakfast, the music of bird voices was played so that the subject could listen to this music with the bird. Caregivers were encouraged to write down their observations of interaction between the resident and bird and to note any changes in problem behaviors. After 3 months of the bird-assisted care intervention, it was reported that the subject’s problem behaviors had improved and he had become less irritable. Due to the focus on the interactions with the bird during the day, the resident could fall asleep at night. Clearly, the resident’s quality of life was enhanced when he developed a close link with the bird. Thus, it was demonstrated that animal-assisted measures could be useful for older people or those with dementia and problem behaviors.