Faculty Publications

Effects Of Pet Visitations On Semiambulatory Nursing Home Residents: Problems In Assessment

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book/Conference Title

The Journal of Applied Gerontology

Volume

6

Issue

2

First Page

183

Last Page

188

Abstract

To evaluate the use of a pet visitation program in a nursing home, eight residents were visited individually, three days per week, for a period of eight weeks. In alternate two-week periods, the visits included a community volunteer and their dog. Measures on a Daily Attitude Index, a biweekly happiness index, and a daily nurse's scale were recorded. The results showed that both the Daily Attitude and the happiness measures were unaffected by pet visitations. The nurse's scale, however, revealed increases on the well-being and attitude measures and these were maintained throughout the visitation period but increases in social activity did not generalize beyond the pet visits. These results suggest that the reported beneficial effects of pet visitation programs may partly result from the specific behavior being monitored. © 1987, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.

Department

Department of Psychology

Original Publication Date

1-1-1987

DOI of published version

10.1177/073346488700600204

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