Experiences of the elderly who participate in animal-assisted activities : a scoping review

Abstract

Academic research currently available on animal-assisted activities used by the elderly has been criticised for producing an abundance of quantitative research, and highlighted the lack of qualitative exploration on the subject (Jain et al., 2020). For this study, a scoping review was conducted to garner an understanding of how the elderly in old age homes experience animal-assisted activities and how this intervention has an impact on their wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to explore the range, extent, and nature of primary research on the experiences of the elderly who participate in animal-assisted activities, published between and including the years 2011 and 2021. This study employed a methodological framework for conducting a scoping review developed by Arksey and O’Malley (2005), thereafter revised by Levac et al. (2010). Data analysis was conducted through a manifest content analysis to extract relevant data connected to the research question. This scoping review found that the elderly’s experiences of animal-assisted activities in the seven scoped studies demonstrate a mostly constructive influence on their lives. However, this researcher suggests that the experiences of the elderly who have participated in animal-assisted activities need to be further researched qualitatively to provide more recent evidence on effective and far-reaching change in the way we support the wellbeing of old age home residents. Seven articles were included and analysed in this scoping review.