A theoretical perspective on planning and implementing pet therapy for older patients with dementia or cognitive impairment in an acute hospital setting.

Evidence and change management often fit together in clinical settings. Evidence alone will not impact the quality of care unless it is carefully led and managed to embed the change in practice. Selecting good quality, relevant evidence that addresses a research question can be used to improve the quality of nursing care, inform new research and develop understanding of a topic. This is useful when seeking to implement policy or new strategies for nursing care. This article discusses various factors that may influence the decision-making process for managing change when seeking to introduce pet therapy to the older adult clinical setting.