Animal-assisted interventions in geriatric depression： a scoping review

Abstract

BackgroundGeriatric depression is a common psychiatric problem among older adults. Animal-assisted interventions （AAI） can aid in the treatment of psychiatric disorders， but their effectiveness in geriatric depression remains controversial.ObjectiveTo provide an overview of the current research on AAI in alleviating geriatric depression， in order to provide references for developing AAI programs for this population.MethodsBased on Arksey's scoping review method， a comprehensive literature search was conducted on April 16， 2023. The databases searched included China Knowledge Network， VIP， Wanfang Medical Network， China Biomedical Literature Database， Web of Science， PubMed， CINAHL， Cochrane Library and Embase. The search aimed to collect studies related to AAI and geriatric depression from the inception of each database until April 15， 2023. Two trained researchers independently screened the literature and extracted data on basic information.ResultsA total of 13 studies were included in the final review. AAI settings included nursing homes， hospitals， communities， day care centers and residences. Interventions involved touching and naming the animals， verbally interacting with the animals， playing games with the animals， communicating with the therapists and learning to care for the animals. AAI was found to improve social interaction and communication abilities， bring positive emotional experiences and enhance life satisfaction in geriatric depression. However， its effect on cognitive function improvement was inconclusive.ConclusionAAI can potentially alleviate negative mood and depressive symptoms in geriatric depression. ［Funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China （number， 82001444）］

Keywords

• animal-assisted interventions
• geriatric depression
• psychological therapy
• scoping review