There are so many reasons to love dogs, but did you know these fascinating facts about dogs and their positive effects on healthcare?
- Nursing home residents with dementia who interacted with dogs weekly over six months had significantly longer and more frequent periods of positive pleasurable emotions and more social interaction including touch and body movements than the non-dog control group.[1]
- Dog-assisted therapy weekly for six months showed significant emotional, behavioral, and cognitive improvement using validated measurement tools in nursing home residents with dementia.[2]
- Research done in a large urban mental health and addiction hospital shows that therapy dogs can be used effectively to engage hard-to-reach populations in research about their treatment and care.[3]
[1] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/psyg.12385
[2] http://www.alternative-therapies.com/oa/6707.html
[3] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0238096