Pet therapy dog accompanies care assistants on home care visits

Tally the dog has been welcomed into the team at Right at Home and will start accompanying care assistants on home care visits to provide pet therapy for service users.

The Right at Home Dementia Delay Programme team hope Tally will have a positive impact on people living in their own home, after research showed pet therapy can be especially beneficial for people with dementia.

Social interaction with a dog can reduce feelings of agitation commonly felt by a person with dementia and physical activity such as grooming or short walks can improve their physical health.

Tally’s owner Alistair Shanks said: “I am delighted that our clients are going to have a chance to meet Tally. She is a wonderful, loving dog and I am sure will bring a lot of happiness to our clients, just as she has to my family. My children absolutely adore her and she is also great with my grandparents.”

Tally will accompany home carers as they make care visits for people in their homes in the areas of Guildford, Farnham, Fleet, Aldershot and Farnborough and the team has received specific training to carry out pet therapy.

Studies into the benefits of pet therapy for people with dementia have also found an increase in verbal communication, attentiveness and even an increase in appetite.

Mara Baun, a professor in the Department of Continuing Care at the University of Texas-Houston School of Nursing has spent over a decade researching the benefits of pet therapy for people with dementia.

She said: “When they had the pet with them, they had more interactive behaviours, although some of them were aimed at the dog, not at the person,” she says. “Her work has shown this effect is consistent whether the dog and dementia patients interact one-on-one or in a group setting.”

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