Companion Dog Walking for ICU Survivor Health

Study Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a randomized controlled trial comparing a pet dog walking intervention to an attention control education intervention in adult intensive care unit survivors. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are: * What is the feasibility of a pet dog-walking intervention compared to an attention control education intervention on depression, anxiety, cortisol, and quality of life for adult ICU survivors. * What is the acceptability of a pet dog-walking intervention compared to an attention control education intervention on depression, anxiety, cortisol, and quality of life for adult ICU survivors. The secondary question\[s\] it aims to answer are: \- What are the differences in depression, anxiety, serum cortisol, and quality of life between and within a companion dog walking intervention compared to an attention control education intervention for ICU survivors? Participants in the intervention group will be asked to: * Participate in dog walking with their pet dog at least three times per week, for at least 10 minutes each walk, for 8-weeks. * Wear an activity monitor and record their dog walks in a diary. * Complete surveys to measure depression, anxiety, and quality of life at the start of the study, after week 4, and after week 8. * Have blood drawn to measure cortisol levels at the start of the study, after week 4, and after week 8. Participants in the control group will be asked to: * Read educational materials about their pet dog's health once every week (education materials are provided by the researchers). * Wear an activity monitor and record when they read their education materials in a diary. * Complete surveys to measure depression, anxiety, and quality of life at the start of the study, after week 4, and after week 8. * Have blood drawn to measure cortisol levels at the start of the study, after week 4, and after week 8. Participants will be assigned to an intervention

Primary Outcome

Data will be collected to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent does the recruitment procedure produce study participants? 2. How many participants met inclusion and exclusion criteria? 3. What are the obstacles to recruitment? 4. What was the attrition rate of participants? 5. To what extent was fidelity of the intervention maintained by participants? 6. To what extent were measurements completed? 7. What was the extent and patterns of missing data?

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Attention Control Group
• BEHAVIORAL Companion Dog Walking

Study Locations (2)