Dolphin-Assisted Therapy for Children With Special Needs: A Pilot Study

Backgroundandobjectives: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use has been associated with preventive health behaviors. However, the role of CAM use in patients’ health behaviors remains unclear. This study aimed to determine the extent to which patients report that CAM use motivates them to make changes to their health behaviors. Materials and Methods: This secondary analysis of 2012 National Health Interview Survey data involved 10,201 CAM users living in the United States who identified up to three CAM therapies most important to their health. Analyses assessed the extent to which participants reported that their CAM use motivated positive health behavior changes, specifically: eating healthier, eating more organic foods, cutting back/stopping drinking alcohol, cutting back/quitting smoking cigarettes, and/or exercising more regularly. Results: Overall, 45.4% of CAM users reported being motivated by CAM to make positive health behavior changes, including exercising more regularly (34.9%), eating healthier (31.4%), eating more organic foods (17.2%), reducing/stopping smoking (16.6% of smokers), or reducing/stopping drinking alcohol (8.7% of drinkers). Individual CAM therapies motivated positive health behavior changes in 22% (massage) to 81% (special diets) of users. People were more likely to report being motivated to change health behaviors if they were: aged 18–64 compared to those aged over 65 years; of female gender; not in a relationship; of Hispanic or Black ethnicity, compared to White; reporting at least college education, compared to people with less than high school education; without health insurance. Conclusions: A sizeable proportion of respondents were motivated by their CAM use to undertake health behavior changes. CAM practices and practitioners could help improve patients’ health behavior and have potentially significant implications for public health and preventive medicine initiatives; this warrants further research attention.

 The aim of the current study was to investigate the relationship between forgiveness, quality of romantic attachment with altruism in parents of children with special needs and regular school children. In this study, 275 individuals (144 parents of regular school children using cluster sampling and 131 parents of children with special needs using available sampling [ procedure) were selected. In this study Enright forgiveness inventory (Enright, 1977), Adult Attachment Inventory (Hazen& Shaver, 1987), and altruism (Ashton & et al., 1998); were used. Analysis of data was performed by using multiple regression analysis. Results of the analysis revealed that in parents of regular school children there was a significant negative correlation between insecure attachment to spouse and cognitive, emotional and behavioral domain of forgiveness. Whereas in parents of exceptional children there was a significant negative correlation between insecure attachment to spouse and cognitive and behavioral dimensions of forgiveness. Multiple regression analysis revealed that in mothers of children with special needs and regular school children quality of attachment to the spouse was a significant variable in determining the forgiveness (cognitive, behavioral and emotional dimension of forgiveness). The quality of attachment is a significant variable in determining the magnitude of forgiveness.  Keyword : forgiveness, quality of attachment to spouse, altruism, exceptional parents, regular school children’s mother.  Â

BackgroundMany parents choose support such as Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) for themselves and their children who have cancer. The aim of this paper is to describe, how parents who have children with cancer communicated with conventional health care providers about CAM, and what types and sources of information they would like to receive about CAM when the child was ill.MethodThis focused ethnography draws from in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with 22 families in Norway with 24 adult participants (two couples), including two individuals who had had cancer themselves. Four domains were explored in the data analysis: the use of CAM, advice from laypeople about CAM, communication with conventional health care providers about CAM, and parents’ information needs about CAM.ResultsMany of the participants had personal experiences with CAM before the child received the cancer diagnosis. The health care providers did not raise the question about CAM in the consultations. However, when the parents raised the question, they were mostly met in a positive way. The participants did not receive any information about CAM at the hospital, which they would have appreciated. Instead, they received recommendations about CAM from laypersons, which were mostly rejected, as the advice was not in line with their health values/philosophy.ConclusionThe reason participants did not disclose CAM use is that physicians did not ask them about it. However, positive communication about conventional treatment facilitated fruitful conversations about CAM. The participants wanted information about CAM from authoritative sources, primary from health care providers at the hospital and the Children’s Cancer Society. They demand information about risks and benefits when using CAM as well as whether CAM can improve the immune system, fight the cancer, and improve the quality of life of the family. An evidence-based decision aid is warranted to enable health care providers and parents of children with cancer to make well-informed decisions about CAM.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world in an unprecedented manner. It has aggravated psychological distress in parents of children with cochlear implants. Continuous use of a speech sound processor is critical for auditory stimulation in children with cochlear implants. However, movement restrictions imposed have affected access to hearing healthcare services. The current study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hearing healthcare access for children with cochlear implants. Methods: An online questionnaire survey was conducted among parents of children with cochlear implants. Results: A total of 24 parents responded to the questionnaire. All the respondents reported that COVID-19 has a significant impact on access to hearing health services for their children. Speech processor breakdown and disconnection from the auditory mode of communication had a critical influence on behavioral changes in children. Conclusions: The current study highlights the hurdles faced by the parents in order to access hearing health services for their children. The use of innovative methods such as remote tele-audiology will be the way forward to tackle challenges faced by the parents.

Objectives: Research demonstrates the benefits of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in myriad environments. Yet, the majority of CAM services are offered in outpatient settings. Incorporating CAM into hospital settings may lead to increased patient comfort, well-being, and overall satisfaction with hospital admissions. Few studies have examined CAM services among inpatients. Therefore, this study assessed inpatients' preferences and beliefs regarding CAM, as well as their stated willingness to pay for these services. Design: Adult patients (n = 100), ranging in age from 19–95 years (M = 53 years; SD = 19.2 years), were recruited during their hospitalization in the University of California, San Diego, Healthcare System. The inpatients completed a brief individual interview to gather their perspectives on common CAM services, including acupuncture, aromatherapy, art therapy, guided imagery, healthy food, humor therapy, massage therapy, music therapy, pet therapy, Reiki, and stress management. Inpatients were asked which CAM therapies they perceived as being potentially the most helpful, their willingness to pay for those therapies, and their perceived beliefs regarding the use of those therapies. Results: Inpatients most commonly perceived healthy food (85%), massage therapy (82%), and humor therapy (70%) to be the most helpful, and were most willing to pay for healthy food (71%), massage therapy (70%), and stress management (48%). Inpatients most commonly believed CAM treatments would provide relaxation (88%), increase well-being (86%), and increase their overall satisfaction with the hospitalization (85%). Conclusions: This study suggests that CAM services may be a beneficial addition to hospitals, as demonstrated by inpatients' interest and stated willingness to pay for these services. These findings may help organizational leaders when making choices regarding the development of CAM services within hospitals, particularly since a significant percentage of inpatients reported that CAM services would increase their overall satisfaction with the hospitalization. These results merit further attention given the need to increase cost savings while enhancing the overall patient experience in today's medical marketplace.

Background and Hypothesis: Pain is cited as the primary reason patients access the healthcare system and is estimated to produce total financial cost of 500 billion dollars. However, pain can be difficult to treat, and is often associated with various mental health comorbidities, such as depression, anxiety, and PTSD, which can attenuate the effects of treatment. Thus, it is important to identify novel therapies that can both provide pain relief, and treat any associated mental health comorbidity. Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) is one such possible treatment. Numerous studies have been published that highlight the potential of AAI in this domain. The aim of this study was to evaluate and synthesize the results of these studies. Experimental Design or Project Methods: A literature search was conducted searching the databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, and EMBASE with search terms related to AAI, pain, anxiety, depression, and PTSD. 110 articles met the inclusion criteria and their results were reviewed. Results: 24 articles analyzed outcomes related to pain, and 17 of these articles found that AAI significantly improved pain. Of these 17 articles, the average absolute magnitude of improvement in pain severity was 15%. 69 articles analyzed outcomes related to anxiety, and 37 found that AAI significantly improved anxiety. Of these 37 articles, the average absolute magnitude of improvement in anxiety symptom severity was 16%. 54 articles analyzed outcomes related to depression, and 29 found that AAI significantly improved depression. Of these 29 articles, the average absolute magnitude of improvement in depression symptom severity was 13%. 15 articles analyzed outcomes related to PTSD, and 11 found that AAI significantly improved PTSD symptoms. Of these 11 articles, the average absolute magnitude of improvement in PTSD symptom severity was 18%. Conclusions and Potential Impact: AAI is promising as a complementary therapy for the treatment of pain as it is able to significantly improve pain while simultaneously treating common mental health comorbidities.

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) has been widely used as a complementary therapy in mental health treatment especially to remediate social skill deficits. The goal of AAT is to improve social, emotional, and cognitive functioning. The purpose of this article is to draw upon the literature on AAT and explore specific applications to cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) and social skills training. This study provides a systematic review of most of the available literature on ATT and assesses that potential uses of ATT for brain injury rehabilitation. Although the efficacy of AAT is not currently well documented by rigorous research, (Kazin, 2010) anecdotal evidence suggests that brain injury survivors may benefit from the combination of AAT and cognitive rehabilitation techniques. Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) survivors with cognitive impairments can benefit from AAT as part of a comprehensive and holistic rehabilitation treatment plan.

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BackgroundThe use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is on the increase globally with a high prevalence in children and adults with chronic illnesses. Many studies have evaluated the epidemiology of medicine use for children in developing countries but none has evaluated the use of CAM for children with chronic illnesses. The aim of this study was therefore to determine the prevalence, pattern of use, parental sources of information, perceived benefits, cost, and adverse effects of CAM in children with epilepsy, sickle cell anaemia and asthma in Lagos, Nigeria.MethodsParents of children with epilepsy (122), asthma (78) or sickle cell anaemia (118) who presented consecutively to the paediatric neurology, respiratory and haematology clinics of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja were interviewed with a structured open- and close-ended questionnaire. The information obtained comprised the demography of both the patients and their parents; past and present treatments received by the patients; the type of CAM, if any, used by the patients; and the sources, cost, benefits and adverse effects of the CAM used.ResultsA total of 303 CAMs were used by the patients, either alone or in combination witother CAM. CAM was reportedly used by 99 (31%) patients (epilepsy -38%, sickle cell anaemia – 36% and asthma – 25%). The majority (84%) of these patients were currently using CAM. The use of CAM was stopped six months prior to the study by 16 patients (16%). Biological products were the most frequently used CAMs (58%), followed by alternative medical systems (27%) and mind-body interventions (14%). Relations, friends and neighbours had a marked influence on 76% of the parents who used CAM for their children. Eighty-five (86%) parents were willing to discuss the use of CAM with their doctors but were not asked. CAM use was associated with adverse reactions in 7.1% of the patients.ConclusionParental use of CAMs to treat their children with epilepsy, asthma and sickle cell anaemia is common in Nigeria. Efforts should be made by doctors taking care of these patients to identify those CAM therapies that are beneficial, harmless and cheap for possible integration with conventional therapy.

Ko J, Lee JI, Muñoz-Furlong A, Li XM, Sicherer SH. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2006;97:365–369 PURPOSE OF THE STUDY. To determine the prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use, the types of CAM modalities used, and opinions regarding CAM in food-allergic patients. STUDY POPULATION. A total of 442 individuals were polled, 95% of whom were parents of food-allergic children. Two groups were evaluated by using an anonymous questionnaire: attendees at a Food Allergy &amp; Anaphylaxis Network conference in 2002 and a convenience sample from the Pediatric Allergy and Immunology practice of Mount Sinai Medical Center (New York, NY). Three hundred eighty individuals filled out questionnaires, equal numbers from both groups. METHODS. A 19-item questionnaire was constructed to collect data on types, frequency, and opinions of CAM use, severity of food allergy, and demographic information. RESULTS. Diagnostic modalities considered unproven or disproven (including immunoglobulin G4 testing, kinesiology, electrodermal skin testing, and provocation testing) were used by 22% of the respondents. Chiropractors (10%) were the most common CAM providers, followed by homeopaths (5%), acupuncturists (4%), and herbologists (4%). Of food-allergic CAM users, 33% reported using chiropractic, 33% homeopathy, 17% Nambudripad's allergy-elimination technique, 12% acupressure, 9% massage, 6% acupuncture, and 3% reflexology. Sources of information about CAM included friends (39%), family (28%), the Internet (8%), and television (6%). Only 49% of the participants reported CAM use to their regular physicians. On a scale from 0 (not effective) to 5 (very effective), patients found that CAM therapies were not particularly effective (mean score: 2.08). If available, an herbal therapy of equal efficacy, safety, and cost was preferred as compared with a pharmaceutical drug (37% vs 12%; P = .001). CONCLUSIONS. Unproven or disproven diagnostic methods and CAM treatments were used by ∼20% of the respondents (most of whom were parents of food-allergic patients). Most of those who used CAM noted poor efficacy, but if given a choice, many would prefer herbal therapies to pharmaceutical drugs. REVIEWER COMMENTS. Education regarding effective food-allergy tests and additional research on CAM therapies are needed.

Chronic stress and burnout experienced by healthcare workers has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Animal-assisted activities, traditionally patient-focused, have the potential to benefit healthcare worker well-being. With limited evidence to support animal assisted activities for healthcare workers within inpatient hospital settings, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the acceptability and impact of an animal assisted activity using therapy dogs on healthcare worker stress, burnout, work engagement, and mood. Using a quasi-experimental, waitlist control design, healthcare workers from paired medical intensive care and medical-surgical units served as intervention and waitlist control groups and were offered the animal assisted activity three times a week for eight weeks. Visits ranged from 20 to 60 minutes. Measures of stress, burnout, and work engagement were measured pre- and post-intervention. Self-reported mood was collected before and after each intervention with participants reporting weekly participation. Intervention acceptability was measured post-intervention. Differences between pre- and post-intervention measures of stress, burnout, work engagement, and mood were assessed with paired and independent samples t-tests; participation and acceptability were measured descriptively. Acceptability of the animal-assisted activity, rated on a scale of 1 to 10, was similar for both intervention (M=8.92; SD=1.256) and waitlist control (M=9.57; SD=.787) groups. Weekly participation for both groups averaged one to two per week. There were no significant improvements in stress, burnout, or work engagement. Self-reported mood increased significantly for the intervention group (p=.05). Our findings suggest that an animal assisted activity, available for healthcare workers within busy inpatient settings, may offer immediate benefits through improved mood. Further research is needed to better understand short and and long-term effects of animal assisted activity on healthcare worker, patient, and organizational outcomes.

This study was designed to examine differences between parents of children with special needs and parents of children without special needs in levels of distress and community resource engagement. There were 29 participants. No significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to individual and marital distress, but parents of children with special needs had significantly more engagement with community resources. When analyzing parent total visits (PTV) and child total visits (CTV), the CTV for parents of children with special needs averaged just over 50 visits for a six-month period compared to 0.29 for the comparison group. Implications for practice, such as use of transdisciplinary teams, and for future research are discussed.

Cognitively impaired older adults pose challenges that include communication barriers that may contribute to social isolation of the individual and frustration by both the individual and caregivers. Healthcare professionals must to be prepared to speak to the distinctive requirements of this population. Innovative strategies are needed to improve the ability of caregivers and health professionals to establish effective communication. Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a complementary therapy that shows promise in providing emotional and social benefits to older adults in both clinical and community settings. This project aims to describe the benefits of incorporating AAT within a community respite program to enhance social engagement of cognitively impaired adults. In this project a group of subjects were exposed to two situations in an unsystematic order, visits with a dog and visits without a dog. The purpose was to compare each visit and its effect in improving engagement in those attending a community respite program. Throughout the study, respite attendees were encouraged to engage with dogs or the human visitor. In this study, AAT enhanced social engagement.

ABSTRACT.This article examines parental advocacy for young children with disabilities using a subset of data drawn from a larger exploratory and descriptive study on parental advocacy for children with disabilities from birth to age 18 with a sample of 400 participants. Because this article focuses on parents of children from birth to age 6, only parents (n = 76) meeting this criterion were selected. Data were collected through an online survey, with a snowball sample generated through e-mail lists and social media groups. The survey included questions on demographics, types of advocacy settings, perceived effectiveness of advocacy efforts, and an example of a successful advocacy effort. Parental advocacy was most common in schools, medical clinics, social services, and social media and involved processes such as educating oneself about the child's condition and rights for services, educating others including professionals, and making persistent efforts. These findings suggest advocacy on behalf of children with disabilities starts early and is important from birth to age 6. Policy and social work practice should help parents with support, knowledge, and skills to be effective advocates for their children. Future research is recommended to explore the relationships between advocacy, empowerment, coping, and resilience in parents of children with special needs.

This research assesses complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use and administration for patients and family caregivers in Illinois hospice and palliative care organizations. An online survey was administered to a sample of 108 contacts of Illinois organizations listed in the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website, and 90.3% of the responding organizations offered some type of CAM. The top 5 most frequently offered CAM modalities to patients were pet therapy (64.5%), music therapy (61.3%), massage therapy (54.8%), art therapy (29.0%), and energy therapies (25.8%); these were the same top 5 offered to families but with different frequencies. Findings regarding utilization, administration, financing, and spiritual/cultural competency are discussed with policy recommendations for data collection, administrative improvements, and integration of CAM providers into service delivery.