Animal Assisted Activity Program on Patients and Staff on an Inpatient Surgical Oncology Unit

Postoperative Care Clinical Trial

Official title:

Caring Canines: Outcomes From an Animal Assisted Activity Program on Patients and Staff on an Inpatient Surgical Oncology Unit

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT02363608
• Other study ID #: 15-010
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: February 5, 2015
• Last updated: January 12, 2017
• Start date: January 2015

Study information

• Verified date: January 2017
• Source: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

The purpose of this study is to describe the effects of canine-assisted activity visits on patients and staff in a hospital setting. The Caring Canines program uses dogs who have been trained to be obedient, calm and comforting. It involves a visit by a volunteer (called the dog's handler) and the volunteer's dog that has been trained and tested to have a good personality and to follow commands. A visit typically lasts about 10-15 minutes with the patient interacting with the dog while the dog is supervised by the handler. Memorial Sloan Kettering currently has Caring Canine dogs visit patients but the investigators don't yet know the impact of these visits on patients and staff. The investigators would like to see how the Caring Canine visits impact a patients' mood, including anxiety, stress, and sense of well-being. Two groups of patients will take part in this study - the first group will receive standard post surgery care and will not receive a visit from the Caring Canines program and the second group will receive daily visits (Tuesday -Friday) from the Caring Canines program while they are on M15. The purpose of this study is to look at differences in well-being between patients who have the visits with the dogs and patients who do not.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 146
• Est. primary completion date: January 2017
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years and older

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

Patients

• Age greater than 21

• Admitted to M15 following a Monday or Tuesday surgery

• Ability to speak and read English.

Staff

• Age greater than 21

• Works at least one day shift a week on M15

• Ability to speak and read English

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients

• Self reported allergy to dogs

• Medical need to be in an isolation room

• Medical need to be in a Protective Environment room .

Staff

• Self reported allergy to dogs

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Postoperative Care

Intervention

Other:
• standard post surgery care

Behavioral:
• Caring Canine program
The therapy dogs who visit at MSKCC. A visit by a therapy dog typically lasts about 10-15 minutes with the patient interacting with the therapy dog while the dog is supervised by the handler.
• baseline and post assessment
The baseline and post assessment will include the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL R-IV) (Stamm, 1997-2005) and qualitative questions.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center	New York	New York

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	change from baseline in the follow-up PHQ-4 scores	The PHQ-4 is an ultra-brief self-report questionnaire that consists of a 2-item depression scale and a 2 item anxiety scale. Among the control and intervention groups to assess psychological effects of the program. Responses on the pain scale will assess physiological effects, and responses on the open-ended questions will identify patient-perceived benefits of the program	1 year
Primary	difference in baseline and follow-up ProQOL scores (For Staff)	(Compassion Satisfaction score and Burnout score) to assess change in work satisfaction due to the program, and responses on the qualitative questions will address staff-perceived benefits of the program.	1 year

External Links

•   Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center