Animal-Assisted Therapy in Pediatric Care : A qualitative descriptive literature review
Abayanayake, Romesha; Weerasooriya, Dilini (2024)
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024112530020
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2024112530020
Tiivistelmä
The qualitative descriptive literature review was conducted to describe effects of animal-assisted therapy and its challenges on pediatric care. The study aimed to provide new knowledge that can be applied in pediatric health care regarding the effects and associated challenges of animal-assisted therapy.
Data was gathered from Cinahl and PubMed, resulting in the selection of eleven articles published between 2016 and 2024. These articles were assessed for relevance using the JBI tool. The data was subsequently examined using inductive content analysis.
The findings highlight the key benefits that can be expected from animal-assisted interventions, as well as the challenges that may arise during therapy delivery. The positive effects include improvements in physical health, emotional and psychological well-being, therapeutic engagement, behavioral benefits, and social benefits. Conversely, the challenges faced during animal-assisted interventions include legal and ethical issues, physiological barriers, unfamiliarity with animals and their behavior, complexities in the healthcare treatment process, lack of literacy, skills, and resources, financial barriers, and environmental issues.
The thesis was reviewed using the Turnitin program, yielding a similarity percentage, which falls within the acceptable range.
Data was gathered from Cinahl and PubMed, resulting in the selection of eleven articles published between 2016 and 2024. These articles were assessed for relevance using the JBI tool. The data was subsequently examined using inductive content analysis.
The findings highlight the key benefits that can be expected from animal-assisted interventions, as well as the challenges that may arise during therapy delivery. The positive effects include improvements in physical health, emotional and psychological well-being, therapeutic engagement, behavioral benefits, and social benefits. Conversely, the challenges faced during animal-assisted interventions include legal and ethical issues, physiological barriers, unfamiliarity with animals and their behavior, complexities in the healthcare treatment process, lack of literacy, skills, and resources, financial barriers, and environmental issues.
The thesis was reviewed using the Turnitin program, yielding a similarity percentage, which falls within the acceptable range.