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To evaluate the use of a pet visitation program in a nursing home, eight residents were visited individually, three days per week, for a period of eight weeks. In alternate two-week periods, the visits included a community volunteer and their dog. Measures on a Daily Attitude Index, a biweekly happiness index, and a daily nurse's scale were recorded. The results showed that both the Daily Attitude and the happiness measures were unaffected by pet visitations. The nurse's scale, however, revealed increases on the well-being and attitude measures and these were maintained throughout the visitation period but increases in social activity did not generalize beyond the pet visits. These results suggest that the reported beneficial effects of pet visitation programs may partly result from the specific behavior being monitored.
Wallace et al. (Mon,) studied this question.