Animal-assisted therapy and work-related stress in healthcare workers

Abstract

There is a lot of literature which shows that nurses in particular are experiencing burnout. This has become more evident post COVID-19. Implementing strategies to enhance the mental well-being of nurses is an important priority. This dissertation will discuss the benefits of animal-assisted therapy and will follow the below research question: Research question: ‘Are healthcare workers (Population) who have animal-assisted therapy (AAT) (Intervention) compared to those without AAT (Comparison) lower risk of work-related stress (Outcome)?’ Inclusion/Exclusion criteria: All articles that included healthcare professionals ranging from nurses to healthcare assistants were included whereas pregnant women and people allergic or disliked pets were excluded from the dissertation. Articles in English language were used, and foreign ones were excluded. Editorials, commentaries, and guidelines were also excluded. The outcome of the search: A total of 6 studies were found through three different databases including HyDi, Google Scholar, and EBSCOhost. Methods of appraisal: The CASP tools were used for the three different studies used: RCT’s, Qualitative and Systematic Reviews. Main results from the evidence and main conclusions: AAT greatly benefits HCP who are experiencing work-related burnout and stress. The three RCTs used for this study found that cortisol levels were lowered through AAT. Another RCT compared various treatments and found that therapy dog visits twice weekly showed a significant increase in feeling happy. Implications and most important recommendations: One of the recommendations is to make AAT available for HCWs locally, as currently, it is only available for patients only. ‘Dogs on Demand’ is also a recommendation for HCWs to have a direct visit. More quantitative and qualitative studies to explore potential negative effects of AAI in hospital settings.