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Pet-facilitated therapy, also known as animal-assisted therapy (AAT), is the practice of utilizing trained animals and handlers to help patients achieve specific physical, social, cognitive, and emotional goals. ... There are various types of therapy. ... Other forms of pet-facilitated therapy include petting, watching, and "visiting" with an animal, or caring for an animal on a regular basis (Bruck, 1996). Many people believe that pet-facilitated therapy and pet ownership in general have beneficial effects, namely improved cardiovascular health, pain reduction, and improved mental health (Drexler, 1995). Anyone who has had a pet, whether it is a dog or cat has noticed that they recognize when we don’t feel well. Many times the pet will give unsolicited attention, as they seem to sense something is not quite right.
Animal assisted therapy is the name given to describe programs in which animals help people by visiting or cohabitating with them (Miller, 2000). Animal assisted therapy can help people feel less lonely, and less depressed. ...
Animal therapy can offer entertainment, or a welcome distraction for pain. ... The companionship pet’s offer is the best treatment for the plagues of aging. The animals
provide the elderly memories of the past and a link to childhood. The nurturing that occurs through ones life can continue with nurturing of a pet. ... In the profession of therapeutic recreation, Animal Assisted Therapy is becoming a regular part of the therapeutic process. ...
History
The use of animal assisted therapy has a rich and interesting history. ... Florence Nightingale promoted pet ownership as a way to ease the suffering of the chronically ill.
One of the earliest recorded uses of structured animal therapy was at the York Retreat in England, which was founded in 1792 as an alternative to conventional therapy at “lunatic asylums” of the period. ...
In the United States, the first organized use of animal therapy was at the Army Air Corps Convalescent Center in Pauling, New York near the end of WWII. This program was run by the American Red Cross and included a working farm as well as pet animals. ... He introduced the term “pet-facilitated therapy”(Vines,1994).
In the most recent decades, pet-facilitated therapy has been used by a wide variety of individuals, including cardiac patients, psychiatric inpatients, emotionally disturbed youth, prison inmates, pediatric patients, and elderly patients from both institutionalized and outpatient settings. ... Although actual scientific research involving pet therapy may not have been documented until the 1960’s, the use of animals in therapy was documented as early as 1792 by the York retreat in England (Hooker, 2002). ... Florence Nightingale refers in her notes “A pet bird in a cage is sometimes the only pleasure of an invalid confined for years to the same room” (Hooker, 2002).
In the past thirty years pet therapy has been transformed from humble beginnings to a successful, research based therapy.
Approximate Word count = 2369
Approximate Pages = 9.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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