Pawsitive Impacts of Therapy Dog Visits

University of Saskatchewan

Status: Completed

Conditions: Pain, Intractable; Pain, Acute; Pain, Chronic; Pain

Treatments: Behavioral: Therapy Dog Team Visit

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04727749

1253

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this unique 18 month study is to better understand the experiences of pain patients in the Royal University Hospital (RUH) Emergency Department (ED), to create excellence in health care. The purpose is to measure the impact of visiting therapy dogs on reducing ED patient pain.

Full description

The goal of this unique 18 month study is to better understand the experiences of pain patients in the Royal University Hospital (RUH) Emergency Department (ED), to create excellence in health care. The purpose is to measure the impact of visiting therapy dogs on reducing ED patient pain.

The background rationale is that pain is the primary reason individuals attend an ED, patient pain is generally not well managed in EDs, Saskatchewan EDs have among the longest wait times in the country, and anxiety associated with ED waiting can negatively impact patients' pain.

Research suggests a therapy dog can change patients' perceptions of pain and its intensity and facilitate relaxation. The intervention will be examined for its impact on patients' sensory pain (i.e., physical pain severity), affective pain (i.e., emotional pain unpleasantness) and anxiety.

It is important to find creative, low-cost ways to respond to patients attending the ED for pain. The primary objective of this study is to generate new health-related knowledge on the ED pain patient experience. The secondary objectives are to implement effective end-of-grant knowledge translation and dissemination strategies and undertake a successful model of collaborative, multidisciplinary research among researchers, patient advisors and system representatives, rooted in a One Health framework.

Enrollment: 211 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Over the age of 18
• Able to provide consent
• Attending the Emergency Department because of pain/discomfort
• Canadian Triage and Acuity Score (CTAS) of 2-5
• Willing to visit with a therapy dog team (intervention group only)

Exclusion criteria

• Pain medications (specifically immediate release acetaminophen and opioid analgesics) within an hour prior to the visit

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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211 participants in 2 patient groups

Therapy Dog Team Visit

Experimental group

Description:

Patient interacts with the therapy dog and handler.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Therapy Dog Team Visit

No Therapy Dog Team Visit

No Intervention group

Description:

No patient interaction with the therapy dog or handler.