Relatives’ experiences of an equine-assisted intervention for people with psychotic disorders

• Purpose: The aim of this study was to describe relatives’ experiences of an equine-assisted intervention for people with psychotic disorders.Methods: The study has a qualitative and descriptive design. Ten semi-structured interviews were performed with relatives of people with a psychotic disorder who had participated in an equine-assisted intervention. A conventional content analysis was used to analyse the data.Result: The overall category “Being with the horses strengthens health capabilities” summarizes the four identified subcategories “The horses contribute to a context with a common focus”, “Interaction with the horses enhances self-confidence and motivation”, “The interplay with the horses nurtures positive emotions” and “Being with the horses encourages physical activity”.Conclusions: The result of this study contributes to the growing body of research about the potential outcomes of equine-assisted interventions. The result also indicates that equine-assisted interventions may improve health capabilities among people with psychotic disorders. The generated knowledge may be useful in mental health services when developing equine-assisted interventions. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Hälsovetenskap -- Arbetsterapi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Health Sciences -- Occupational Therapy (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Equine-assisted interventions

experiences

health capabilities

mental health

psychotic disorders

qualitative content analysis

relatives

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)