Influences of Animal-Assisted Therapy on Episodic Memory in Patients with Acquired Brain Injuries

Felicitas Theis, Frank Luck, Margret Hund-Georgiadis and Karin Hediger
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Felicitas Theis: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 62a, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Frank Luck: Gender Studies, University of Basel, Rheinsprung 21, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
Margret Hund-Georgiadis: REHAB Basel, Clinic for neurorehabilitation and paraplegiology, Im Burgfelderhof 49, 4055 Basel, Switzerland
Karin Hediger: Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Missionsstrasse 62a, 4055 Basel, Switzerland

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-12

Abstract: Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is shown to be an effective method to foster neurorehabilitation. However, no studies investigate long-term effects of AAT in patients with acquired brain injuries. Therefore, the aim of this pilot study was to investigate if and how AAT affects long-term episodic memory using a mixed-method approach. Eight patients rated pictures of therapy sessions with and without animals that they attended two years ago. Wilcoxon tests calculated differences in patients’ memory and experienced emotions between therapy sessions with or without animals. We also analyzed interviews of six of these patients with qualitative content analysis according to Mayring. Patients remembered therapy sessions in the presence of an animal significantly better and rated them as more positive compared to standard therapy sessions without animals (Z = −3.21, p = 0.002, g = 0.70; Z = −2.75, p = 0.006, g = 0.96). Qualitative data analysis resulted in a total of 23 categories. The most frequently addressed categories were “Positive emotions regarding animals” and “Good memory of animals”. This pilot study provides first evidence that AAT might enhance episodic memory via positive emotions in patients with acquired brain injury.

Keywords: animal-assisted therapy 1; acquired brain injury 2; neurorehabilitation 3; episodic memory 4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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