Animal-assisted therapy in dementia care: A critical appraisal of evidence

There remains a paucity of evidence supporting the use of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) in dementia care. The aim of this paper is to critically appraise the current research evidence on AAT, discussing its implications for future practice and research. The findings reported from this critical appraisal demonstrate that the research evidence on AAT for people with dementia requires further exploration. However, the research evidence does highlight that AAT has the potential to be a high-quality complementary therapeutic intervention in dementia care.