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Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence

Assisted living is a fast-growing living option for seniors who require residence-based activities for maintaining mental and physical health. Guided equine interactions may benefit seniors, so an on-site equine program was started at Hacienda at the River senior living community. For research purpo...

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Autores principales: Baldwin, Ann Linda, Rector, Barbara Kathleen, Alden, Ann Calfee
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8533143/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34677222
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11100129
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author Baldwin, Ann Linda
Rector, Barbara Kathleen
Alden, Ann Calfee
author_facet Baldwin, Ann Linda
Rector, Barbara Kathleen
Alden, Ann Calfee
author_sort Baldwin, Ann Linda
collection PubMed
description Assisted living is a fast-growing living option for seniors who require residence-based activities for maintaining mental and physical health. Guided equine interactions may benefit seniors, so an on-site equine program was started at Hacienda at the River senior living community. For research purposes, twenty-four residents and associates, aged fifty-five or over, consented to physiological measurements before, during and after four guided sessions of stroking one of three horses for 10 min over 4–6 weeks. Heart rate variability (HRV) was measured simultaneously in humans and horses during interactions. We hypothesized that human heart rate (HR) and HRV would increase during stroking and HRV power would shift toward the very low frequency (VLF) range common in horses, indicative of healthy function. During stroking, human HR increased (p < 0.05) but HRV (SDRR) and %VLF of HRV power did not change. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP), an exploratory measure, significantly increased after stroking, consistent with arousal. Two horses showed no significant changes in HR or HRV, but one relaxed. Sixteen horse–human pairs demonstrated synchronized HRV peak frequencies during sessions, suggestive of social connection. Participants used more positive than negative words describing their experience during exit interviews (p < 0.05). These data show that horses animate seniors without causing emotional stress and provide opportunities for social bonding.
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spelling pubmed-85331432021-10-23 Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence Baldwin, Ann Linda Rector, Barbara Kathleen Alden, Ann Calfee Behav Sci (Basel) Article Assisted living is a fast-growing living option for seniors who require residence-based activities for maintaining mental and physical health. Guided equine interactions may benefit seniors, so an on-site equine program was started at Hacienda at the River senior living community. For research purposes, twenty-four residents and associates, aged fifty-five or over, consented to physiological measurements before, during and after four guided sessions of stroking one of three horses for 10 min over 4–6 weeks. Heart rate variability (HRV) was measured simultaneously in humans and horses during interactions. We hypothesized that human heart rate (HR) and HRV would increase during stroking and HRV power would shift toward the very low frequency (VLF) range common in horses, indicative of healthy function. During stroking, human HR increased (p < 0.05) but HRV (SDRR) and %VLF of HRV power did not change. Diastolic blood pressure (DBP), an exploratory measure, significantly increased after stroking, consistent with arousal. Two horses showed no significant changes in HR or HRV, but one relaxed. Sixteen horse–human pairs demonstrated synchronized HRV peak frequencies during sessions, suggestive of social connection. Participants used more positive than negative words describing their experience during exit interviews (p < 0.05). These data show that horses animate seniors without causing emotional stress and provide opportunities for social bonding. MDPI 2021-09-23 /pmc/articles/PMC8533143/ /pubmed/34677222 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11100129 Text en © 2021 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Baldwin, Ann Linda
Rector, Barbara Kathleen
Alden, Ann Calfee
Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence
title Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence
title_full Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence
title_fullStr Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence
title_full_unstemmed Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence
title_short Physiological and Behavioral Benefits for People and Horses during Guided Interactions at an Assisted Living Residence
title_sort physiological and behavioral benefits for people and horses during guided interactions at an assisted living residence
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8533143/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34677222
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/bs11100129
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