Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program
Therapy dogs have been increasingly incorporated into a variety of medical treatment programs to improve patients’ treatment outcomes and wellbeing. However, research investigating the stress level of therapy dogs in this setting is limited. This is the first randomized–controlled and prospective st...
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| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/121 |
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| author | Hao-Yu Shih François Martin Debra Ness Whitney Romine Taylor L. Peck Tricia Turpin Rachael Horoschak Cindy Steeby Hannah Phillips Mary Claypool Amanda Theuer Grace M. Herbeck Jasmine Sexton Erin Pittman Erica Bellamkonda Nikita Maria Ligutam Mohabbat Sandra A. Lyn Brent A. Bauer Arya B. Mohabbat |
| author_facet | Hao-Yu Shih François Martin Debra Ness Whitney Romine Taylor L. Peck Tricia Turpin Rachael Horoschak Cindy Steeby Hannah Phillips Mary Claypool Amanda Theuer Grace M. Herbeck Jasmine Sexton Erin Pittman Erica Bellamkonda Nikita Maria Ligutam Mohabbat Sandra A. Lyn Brent A. Bauer Arya B. Mohabbat |
| author_sort | Hao-Yu Shih |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Therapy dogs have been increasingly incorporated into a variety of medical treatment programs to improve patients’ treatment outcomes and wellbeing. However, research investigating the stress level of therapy dogs in this setting is limited. This is the first randomized–controlled and prospective study that investigated the wellbeing of therapy dogs in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program. In this study, 14 therapy dog–handler pairs were embedded in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program to provide animal-assisted treatment (AAT). These therapy dog–handler pairs actively participated in stroke rehabilitation by walking with the patient, playing fetch with the patient, and being petted/brushed by the patient, amongst various other AAT activities. To measure canine stress responses during the rehabilitation sessions, salivary cortisol and oxytocin concentrations, heart rate and heart rate variability, tympanic membrane temperature, and a behavioral evaluation were recorded before and after interactions with the patient. The results demonstrated that therapy dogs had significantly decreased heart rate and increased heart rate variability after the AAT session. Right tympanic temperature significantly increased after the session, but there was no significant difference in terms of salivary cortisol or oxytocin levels, nor in stress-related behavioral evaluations after the AAT session. Taken together, the results suggest that incorporating AAT into an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program did not induce stress in the therapy dogs, and that the therapy dogs may have been more relaxed after the session. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-13136fdaf2d44d4d99a6cd9967718596 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj-art-13136fdaf2d44d4d99a6cd99677185962025-01-24T13:17:39ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152025-01-0115212110.3390/ani15020121Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation ProgramHao-Yu Shih0François Martin1Debra Ness2Whitney Romine3Taylor L. Peck4Tricia Turpin5Rachael Horoschak6Cindy Steeby7Hannah Phillips8Mary Claypool9Amanda Theuer10Grace M. Herbeck11Jasmine Sexton12Erin Pittman13Erica Bellamkonda14Nikita Maria Ligutam Mohabbat15Sandra A. Lyn16Brent A. Bauer17Arya B. Mohabbat18Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USANestlé Purina Research, St. Louis, MO 63102, USADepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USAAnimal-Assisted Services, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USADepartment of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USANestlé Purina Research, St. Louis, MO 63102, USANestlé Purina Research, St. Louis, MO 63102, USANestlé Purina Research, St. Louis, MO 63102, USANestlé Purina Research, St. Louis, MO 63102, USADepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USADepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USADepartment of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USADepartment of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USAVolunteer Services, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USADepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USADepartment of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USANestlé Purina Research, St. Louis, MO 63102, USADivision of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USADivision of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USATherapy dogs have been increasingly incorporated into a variety of medical treatment programs to improve patients’ treatment outcomes and wellbeing. However, research investigating the stress level of therapy dogs in this setting is limited. This is the first randomized–controlled and prospective study that investigated the wellbeing of therapy dogs in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program. In this study, 14 therapy dog–handler pairs were embedded in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program to provide animal-assisted treatment (AAT). These therapy dog–handler pairs actively participated in stroke rehabilitation by walking with the patient, playing fetch with the patient, and being petted/brushed by the patient, amongst various other AAT activities. To measure canine stress responses during the rehabilitation sessions, salivary cortisol and oxytocin concentrations, heart rate and heart rate variability, tympanic membrane temperature, and a behavioral evaluation were recorded before and after interactions with the patient. The results demonstrated that therapy dogs had significantly decreased heart rate and increased heart rate variability after the AAT session. Right tympanic temperature significantly increased after the session, but there was no significant difference in terms of salivary cortisol or oxytocin levels, nor in stress-related behavioral evaluations after the AAT session. Taken together, the results suggest that incorporating AAT into an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program did not induce stress in the therapy dogs, and that the therapy dogs may have been more relaxed after the session.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/121animal-assisted treatment/therapytherapy dogstrokerehabilitationsalivary cortisolsalivary oxytocin |
| spellingShingle | Hao-Yu Shih François Martin Debra Ness Whitney Romine Taylor L. Peck Tricia Turpin Rachael Horoschak Cindy Steeby Hannah Phillips Mary Claypool Amanda Theuer Grace M. Herbeck Jasmine Sexton Erin Pittman Erica Bellamkonda Nikita Maria Ligutam Mohabbat Sandra A. Lyn Brent A. Bauer Arya B. Mohabbat Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program Animals animal-assisted treatment/therapy therapy dog stroke rehabilitation salivary cortisol salivary oxytocin |
| title | Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program |
| title_full | Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program |
| title_fullStr | Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program |
| title_full_unstemmed | Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program |
| title_short | Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Therapy Dogs to Animal-Assisted Treatment in an Inpatient Stroke Rehabilitation Program |
| title_sort | behavioral and physiological responses of therapy dogs to animal assisted treatment in an inpatient stroke rehabilitation program |
| topic | animal-assisted treatment/therapy therapy dog stroke rehabilitation salivary cortisol salivary oxytocin |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/2/121 |
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