Exploring the Impact of Human-Animal Interactions on children with Life-Threatening Conditions and their Parents

项目总结 评估人-动物相互作用(HAI)在照顾患有严重、 晚期疾病及其父母需要将个人的身体和心理负担降至最低 以及他们的家人。超过500,000名儿童和青少年经历了严重的生命威胁(LTC) 在美国。可用于帮助这些儿童及其家庭的资源不足。 犬类相互作用的初步数据显示，很有希望改善这些脆弱人群的预后 孩子们。现在至关重要的是，通过一项严格的研究，用LTC来检查HAI，以推动科学的发展 确定有助于幸福和生活质量最佳结果的变量。我们的干预措施 开发的设计是为了在这个经常是非常可怕的地方提供支持和正常感 家人。该项目将作为检验HAI在晚期癌症儿童中的作用的第一步， 其长期目标是减少患有所有危及生命的儿童的痛苦。 这项研究的总体目的是研究HAI会议的可行性和初步效果 8-17岁的儿童(8-17岁)和他们的父母、儿童-父母二联体或三联体将被登记在1-组 试验前和试验后的临床试验。他们每次来儿童中心都会参加HAI会议 医院或诊所，但频率不超过一周一次。这些会议将在一间私人房间内进行， 狗狗在宠物伙伴和狗的主人那里注册，将持续大约15分钟。 在此期间，孩子可能会参与宠物伙伴确定的活动，如抚摸狗， 让狗做恶作剧，或者和狗说话。互动的视频记录将有助于确定保真度 和具体的活动。孩子和父母将完成关注压力、焦虑、抑郁的测量 和生活质量。生理测量将包括唾液样本，以测试皮质醇水平和24小时尿液 去甲肾上腺素的样本。 这项建议与PAR-18-650的目标非常一致，以支持跨学科研究，以确定 家庭内外环境对儿童和青少年健康和发展的影响 通过观察研究、实验和临床试验，在整个生命周期内进行治疗。结果 将描述人与动物的相互作用对儿童和青少年健康的影响 有可能对患有LTC的儿童使用HAI产生重大影响。

PROJECT SUMMARY Investigations evaluating the impact of human-animal interactions (HAI) in caring for children with serious, advanced illness and their parents are needed to minimize physical and psychological burdens on individuals and their families. Over 500,000 children and adolescents experience a serious life-threatening condition (LTC) in the United States. Availability of resources to help these children and their families is inadequate. Preliminary data with canine interactions show strong promise to improve outcomes for these vulnerable children. It is crucial now to move the science forward with a rigorous study to examine HAI with a LTC to determine variables contributing to best outcomes of well-being and quality of life. The intervention we developed is designed to provide support and a sense of normalcy in what is often a very frightening place for families. This project will serve as a first step in examining the role of HAI in children with advanced cancer, with a long-term goal of reducing suffering of children with all life-threatening conditions. The overall purpose of the study is to examine feasibility and preliminary efficacy of HAI sessions for children (ages 8-17) with a LTC and their parents., Child-parent dyads or triads will be enrolled in a 1-group pre-and post-test clinical trial. They will participate in HAI sessions each time they come to the children's hospital or clinic, but no more often than once/week. These sessions will take place in a private room with a canine registered with Pet Partners and the canine's owner and will last for approximately 15 minutes. During that time, the child may engage in activities identified by Pet Partners, such as petting the dog, having the dog do tricks, or talking to the dog. A video-recording of the interaction will help determine fidelity and specific activities. Children and parents will complete measures focusing on stress, anxiety, depression and quality of life. Physiologic measures will include saliva samples to test cortisol levels and 24-hour urine specimens for nor-epinephrine. This proposal is well-aligned with PAR-18-650 objectives to support interdisciplinary studies to determine the impact of HAI in and outside the home environment on child and adolescent health and development, as well as therapeutically across the lifespan, through observational studies, experiments, and clinical trials. Results of the study will describe the impact of Human-Animal Interactions on child and adolescent health and have the potential to make a substantial impact on the use of HAI with children with LTC.