Healthcare Program/Policy Evaluation Development of an Animal-Assisted Activity (AAA) Programs on a Pediatric Behavioral Health Unit: With the use of a trainer and her assistant, as well as a child life specialist from the hospital, the team took a trained labradoodle into the children’s behavioral unit Description of a large teaching Hospital to determine if an animal assisted activities program could be developed on a pediatric behavioral health unit for youth who were receiving short-term psychiatric stabilization services for acute or worsening mental/behavioral health needs. How was the success of the program or policy measured? The success of the program was measured by utilizing a subjective distress scale called the SUDS scale (Subjective Units of Distress Scale) 10 minutes prior to the visit with the dog and then right after the visit with the dog; there were also 2 Likert Scale questions on the questionnaire as well as one open-ended question ( What would you do to make the visit go better?) The nurses reported any adverse events that occurred within 24 to 48 hours after the pet visits (i.e. increase in suicidal thoughts, increase in physical aggression or negative behavior, decrease in negative behavior, increase or decrease in self-harm, illness, infection, or allergic reactions. During the two-year period, two patients developed upper respiratory infections and two patients has an escalation in psychiatric symptoms
Order this paper