The feasibility and acceptability of integrating dogs into inpatient rehabilitation therapy with children with acquired brain injury.
Megan E Narad, Kaelynn Knestrick, Shari L Wade and 3 others
PMID 38634435WHAT IT FOUND
Dogs were feasible to add to inpatient PT/OT for 16 children with acquired brain injury: dogs attended 56 of 59 PT and 55 of 59 OT dog sessions, with no adverse events and high satisfaction from families and therapists.
Key findings
01Dogs attended 56 of 59 PT AAT sessions and 55 of 59 OT AAT sessions.
02No adverse events, early session endings, or care disruptions were reported.
03All 10 families completing feedback were in favor of children interacting with dogs in hospital, and all would recommend adding dog sessions to therapy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
Only 16 children were enrolled, and 9 of 16 were discharged before completing the 10-day schedule, so the feasibility data are small and may not reflect longer stays. The study did not measure patient outcomes, such as movement, function, participation, or recovery, so it cannot show that dogs made therapy better. Parent feedback was added after the first six participants, so only 10 families completed it, and therapist feedback was informal rather than a structured outcome measure. Children under 6 and patients with pre-injury developmental disabilities, dog allergy, fear of dogs, or contact precautions were excluded, so findings may not apply to them. Level of consciousness or functioning was not measured at each session, which matters for acute brain injury and self-report.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were disclosed. The publication types list NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that dogs improve rehabilitation outcomes. The study tested whether adding dogs to PT and OT sessions was feasible and acceptable, not whether patients recovered better, and the dog was added to usual therapy rather than tested alone.