The Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy on the Recovery of Individuals with Unilateral Spatial Neglect

The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of limb-activating strategy using either a rote activity or a meaningful activity (animal-assisted therapy) in the treatment of an individual with unilateral spatial neglect. An ABCA single-subject design was used. The participant was a 61 year old male who was eight years post-stroke. A test battery (Baking Tray Task, Star Cancellation Test and Line Bisection Test) was used to assess the participant's level of neglect during baseline and intervention phases. Results indicated that the participant's Baking Tray Task score showed improvements from baseline during both the meaningful and rote activity phases. The Line Bisection score showed improvements from baseline during both intervention phases, but the meaningful activity phase showed a greater improvement. The Star Cancellation Test showed minimal changes between baseline and both intervention phases. These findings suggest that the limb-activating strategy, used in combination with either a rote activity or meaningful activity, shows some improvement in the recovery of unilateral spatial neglect. However, further research is needed to get a better understanding of the impact of using limb activation strategy with meaningful activities on the recovery of individuals with unilateral spatial neglect. Cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs), more commonly known as strokes, are the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the U.S. (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2010). Unilateral spatial neglect (USN) can occur as a result of a stroke and is when a person with a brain lesion neglects the visual field space contralateral to the lesion (Heilman, Watson, & Valenstein, 2003). It has been found that about 43% of people with a right brain-lesion have USN (Ringman, Saver, Woolson, Clarke & Adams, 2004). Specifically, lesions of the inferior parietal lobe, dorsolateral frontal lobe, cingulate gyrus, neostriatum, thalamus and posterior limb of the internal capsule have been indicated as more likely to cause neglect (Heilman et al., 2003). This type of impairment can have a devastating effect on a person's abilities to independently perform functional activities such as eating, Different treatment modalities have been investigated over the years for helping a person to recover the ability to attend to the neglected side. Visual occlusion is one such treatment that involves placing a patch over half of each glasses lens on the non-neglected visual field, forcing the patient to attend to the neglected visual field side (Freeman, 2001). Scanning training is another popular …