État des lieux du recours à la médiation animale dans les EHPAD des départements du nord alpin en 2025 : enquête menée en Savoie, Haute-Savoie et Isère
Year: 2026
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Introduction – The continuous ageing of the population places nursing homes at the centre of care for vulnerable elderly people. Offering non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs), as recommended by institutions, appears to be a solution for improving their quality of life. While animal-assisted interventions (AAI) have already been shown to have numerous benefits in the literature within this population, limited data are available on the extent of its dissemination. For this reason, we propose to identify its place in nursing homes in Savoie, Haute-Savoie and Isère in 2025. Material and methods – This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among nursing homes in the Northern Alpine departments, including a total of 224 establishments, in the form of an online questionnaire sent by email between May and September 2025. The data collected were subjected to descriptive analysis. Results – Among the 113 nursing homes that responded to the survey, 76% used AAI. Dogs remained the main animals involved (87%). The animals were trained in most establishments (84%) and introduced by external specialists in 75% of cases. Approximately half of the nursing homes had been using AAI monthly and for more than three years. The main activities were emotional interaction and discussion around the animal. The main positive effect reported was a reduction in stress and anxiety (84%), while the main obstacle was financial (69%). The nursing homes using AAI reported complete satisfaction. Discussion – The results of this study are highly encouraging in far as its reflects a clear recognition of AAI and growing interest for NPIs, which is particularly promising in geriatrics. However, practices are heterogeneous, making it difficult to quantify them accurately. Future work to harmonise practices could be relevant in order to contribute to the development of institutional recommendations with a higher level of evidence and thus, sustain animal-assisted interventions in institutions.
Source: HAL
Author: Crespo, Julia
Institution: Université Grenoble Alpes
Language: French
Subfield: Animal Science and Zoology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7141774918