As part of a research study, therapy dogs will be visiting an Edmonton long term care home. Brittany DeGraves, a nursing researcher from the University of Alberta, is studying how animal-assisted programs can help both residents and staff at long-term care facilities. In a feasibility study published in BMC Geriatrics, DeGraves interviewed 14 long-term care staff, two long-term care residents at the Edmonton long term care facility, along with an animal therapy volunteer and a person living with dementia in the local community. The interviewees believed that bringing pets into their lives would improve social isolation, mental health, and sense of well-being of the long term care residents and staff. As part of the upcoming research project, volunteers and their dogs from the St. John’s Ambulance Therapy Dog Program will visit residents at the long term care facility. DeGraves will look at changes in quality of life, from pre to post-intervention. DeGraves saw the impact of animal therapy when her grandfather had a stroke and could no longer recognize his children or spouse, but when a therapy dog visited the hospital room he lit up. The nursing researcher’s ultimate goal is to see pet therapy be a part of standard care for long term care facilities in Canada. To read more about the study click here https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12877-026-07033-5