| The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence of pet visitation programs and resident pets in Midwest nursing homes, as well as the perceived benefits and barriers of pet visitation programs and resident pets. A survey was mailed to a stratified random sample of 500 nursing homes in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky. A response rate of 80.2% was achieved using a three-stage mailing procedure. The majority of the nursing homes had pet visitation programs (76.7%) and resident pets (54.0%). Cats and dogs were the predominant types of visiting pets, while birds and fish were the most frequently selected resident pets. The most frequently perceived benefit of pet visitation programs was that pets provide companionship and affection to the residents, while the most frequently perceived benefit of resident pets was that pets have a calming effect on the residents. With regard to perceived barriers, the most frequently perceived barrier of both pet visitation programs and resident pets was that all staff and residents may not like the pets. Using Prochaska's Stages of Change Model, nearly two-thirds (64.5%) of the nursing homes were in the Maintenance stage for pet visitation programs, while almost half (45.2%) of the nursing homes were in the Maintenance stage with regard to resident pets. The Maintenance stage describes nursing homes that have had pet visitation programs and resident pets living in the facilities for more than six months.;The following relationships were found to be statistically significant. The prevalence of resident pets was greatest for rural facilities with 101--150 beds. Respondents from nursing homes with resident pets perceived significantly more benefits and fewer barriers than those without resident pets. Respondents from nursing homes with pet visitation programs perceived significantly fewer barriers than those without pet visitation programs. Pet-owning respondents were significantly more likely to have a resident pet(s) in their nursing homes. In addition, pet-owning respondents perceived significantly more benefits of pet visitation programs and resident pets than non pet-owning respondents, while pet-owning respondents perceived significantly fewer barriers of resident pets than non pet-owning respondents. The respondents in the Maintenance stage perceived a significantly greater number of benefits for resident pets than the respondents in the Precontemplation stage. Finally, the respondents in the Maintenance stage perceived significantly fewer barriers for resident pets than the respondents in the Precontemplation, Contemplation, and Relapse stages. In conclusion, twice as many benefits than barriers were perceived for pet visitation programs by all of the respondents, and nearly twice as many benefits than barriers were perceived for resident pets by all of the respondents. |
