School of Nursing NewsRelease

Pet therapy study by nursing gerontologist funded

    GREENSBORO -- Dr. Beth Barba, a nursing gerontologist at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, has spent

Dr. Beth Barba

her career studying the healing effects of companion animals on patients in institutions. Now, supported by a $100,000 post-doctoral scholar award from the John A. Hartford Foundation and the American Academy of Nursing, she will continue her contributions to understanding how pets help people heal. The scholarship will fund a study of the calming effects of pet dogs on patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, which Barba will conduct in collaboration with the Duke University School of Nursing.

    “The early findings from studies of facilitated animal therapy are very exciting. We see blood pressure go down, voices soften, patients walking farther,” Barba said. “When people in institutionalized settings interact with animals, it makes them feel more human. It gives them a relationship that provides unconditional acceptance and constancy; one in which the nursing home residents can take care of a part of their surroundings within their limitations.”

    The two-year project will begin in the fall at the University of Arkansas, where Barba will spend six months learning research techniques specific to patients with dementia. During the next 18 months, she will conduct a controlled trial at the Exploratory Nursing Research Center on Trajectories of Aging and Care (known as the TRAC Center) at Duke University. The center is funded by the National Institutes of Health. Barba will examine the influence of companion animal therapy on nursing home residents with dementia who are at risk for failure to thrive. She will work with Dr. Eleanor McConnell, administrative core director of the TRAC Center, to examine resident morale, presence of disruptive behaviors and social interactions.

     “The School of Nursing recognizes that curriculum and research in gerontology are increasingly important due to the “aging of America,” said Dean Lynn Pearcey. “We are committed to educating nurses and nurse practitioners who are prepared to care for the special needs of this growing population.”