Witnessing Self-Affirming Moments in Persons with Dementia While Interacting with Therapy Dogs: A Case Report
Carolyn Brooks, Colleen A. Dell, Darlene Chalmers, Ben D. B. Carey · 2024
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Description
Carolyn Brooks and three co-authors report moments of self-affirmation with therapy dogs in a 2024 case paper. Dementia brings anxiety, stress, and fear, and families watch loved ones lose their sense of self. Interventions that restore a positive self-feeling are prized but understudied.
Four people with dementia, in a family home, a hospital ward, and a psychiatric center, were visited by therapy dogs. Two of the authors served as the dog handlers and later unpacked their observations in a long guided conversation led by a third author. A pattern emerged: the dogs seemed to open positive social moments that redirected hard interactions toward self-affirmation, the feeling of being oneself and worthy. The authors frame the mechanism with self-affirmation theory and admit its novelty in this literature. Case reports cannot prove benefit, but they can name a benefit worth testing rigorously.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Carolyn Brooks, Colleen A. Dell, Darlene Chalmers, Ben D. B. Carey |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2024 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 60 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |