A touch of magic: using a service dog for dementia care - 1999 Optima Award

Nursing Homes, Sept, 1999

In the unit itself he continued to respond to the alarm and to distract residents, nudging them away from exits and redirecting them to other locations. Residents perceive this behavior as a form of social contact and an expression of affection, and they have responded favorably.

An essential part of a service dog's life is to separate the work environment from its living quarters. If the dog lives and works in the same place, he can become confused about his duties. Magic lives and works in the unit; however, when he goes off duty, he is taken off the floor and returned by elevator to his living quarters in the unit. This removal from the floor signals to him that now is the time to eat, play and rest.

The Staff

The program was initiated by the unit's Clinical Care Coordinator, Mary Shelkey, RN, with strong backing from the administrator (himself a dog trainer) and the Home's director of psychiatry. The program was made possible through a team of interdisciplinary staff volunteers. This included engineering and housekeeping staff who made moderate changes on the unit, including creating a room where Magic could sleep.

The operational team is highly unusual, spanning both clinical and nonclinical staff and involving all three shifts. Staff include personnel from nursing, medical, housekeeping, engineering, maintenance, materiel management, psychiatry, clerical and medical records. They participate in the three-times-a-day walks and twice-a-day feedings. Members of the nursing staff care for Magic in their own homes on weekends.

The Evaluation

The service dog program proved enormously effective in contributing to the safety and well-being of the residents. All the residents have responded affectionately to the dog and spend hours interacting with him. Magic, who enjoys placing his head in residents' laps, brings back memories for many. One resident, who was particularly despondent, has come out of her shell and developed a special relationship with him.

Outcomes Follow-up

We undertook a 2-week survey during which the nursing staff recorded every attempt made by residents to leave the unit during the day shift (7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.).

Baseline: During the two-week period before the dog arrived on the unit for full-time work, there were 120 attempts to leave, exit or enter the elevators. Four weeks after the dog had been in place working daily on the unit, there had been only five exit attempts spanning two weeks. This is statistically significant, at p [less than] 0.01. At further follow-up these results were replicated.

Another opportunity to study results arose after the dog had been in place for six months. He required minor surgery and left the unit for one month. Immediately prior to his absence, there had been six occurrences over a two-week period. During the four weeks without the dog, there were 28 occurrences over a two-week period. Four weeks after the dog had returned, there were two occurrences over a two-week period. Again, this was statistically significant, at p [less than] 0.05.