Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to conduct an integrative review of existing literature focusing on Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT), specifically canines, on human health. The reviewed articles were published between the years of 2000 to 2014, written in the English language, scholarly in nature, in peer-reviewed journals with access to full text electronic versions of the article, along with articles that provided current anecdotal information related to the effects of AAT. Search terms included the phrase, "animal assisted therapy" in the title. Results of the literature search yielded an enormous quantity of recent and innovative research on various aspects of AAT. Various animals were identified with ATT, most often canines; however, it is not uncommon to find that horses, dolphins, felines, birds, or even small mammals satisfying the same roles. Of these, for this thesis thirteen research articles were selected that dealt primarily with canines in AAT. The findings from the review for this thesis suggested that despite the large volume of available research on ATT in general, a gap in literature exists focusing on the health outcomes with specific animal species. Additionally, the research was noted to be fragmented in nature and the findings were inconsistent; thus, limiting the development of evidence based ATT interventions. Implications for nursing research, policy, education and practice are discussed, along with limitations of this integrative review.

Notes

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Thesis Completion

2014

Semester

Summer

Advisor

Bushy, Angeline

Degree

Bachelor of Science in Nursing (B.S.N.)

College

College of Nursing

Department

Nursing

Subjects

Dissertations, Academic -- Nursing; Nursing -- Dissertations, Academic

Location

UCF Daytona Beach

Format

PDF

Identifier

CFH0004672

Language

English

Access Status

Open Access

Length of Campus-only Access

None

Document Type

Honors in the Major Thesis

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Included in

Nursing Commons

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