So, just what is Animal-Assisted Therapy (or Pet Therapy and Visiting Pets) and why is it so important?
It has been shown in scientific studies that the presence of animals in human living environments, and the direct interaction of people with these animals has a directly positive effect on the health of these people. The benefits can be both psychological and physical. The more common benefits we have all heard about are the lowering of blood pressure and anxiety levels, relief from depression and to generally improve the overall health of pet owners. It has become more widely accepted that by exposing people who have been exposed to the extremes of life, whether by physical injury or mental trauma, sickness or abuse, age or loneliness; these people often show dramatic improvement in their physical or mental conditioning after being allowed to view and/or interact with animals. Why is this the case? Most animals will not judge a person based on their age or inability to do certain things.They aren't judgemental in the way people are, and are pretty free to express love and affection in their own way, and will usually forgive you for most oversights. People can express love and affection to animals and not have to entail the same types of commitments and demands as with people.
When a person decides to take their pet to a care facility, they are attempting to provide a mostly psychological, and partly physical 'animal-assisted' form of therapy to one or more people in that facility. Many people take their pets to visit their relatives in an elder-care facility, and end up entertaining them and other residents by their visits. Many times these are unscheduled and relatively unregulated visits, and the handler/pet team is just a friendly group looking to brighten someone's day. Other institutions require training for both the handler and the visiting animal therapist, and evaluate both for their effectiveness and appropriateness for working in such environments before entering training. Nursing homes aren't the only recipients of AAT teams, often children's care facilities, rehabilitation clinics, abuse centers, mental care facilities and the elderly living alone at home are the benefactors of these volunteers.
Many different animals have been registered and certified as AAT team members. Dogs, cats and birds are commonly found visiting or as temporary residents, along with horses, rabbits, hamsters, Llamas, goats, pigs and other different types of animals. Lizards are not acceptable to most if not all AAT organizations, mostly because of the risks of transmitting Salmonella. some might be surprised that horses are included as therapy team members! Even though most people have some feelings of affection for horses, most wouldn't think that they would be allowed into care facilities because of their size. In this instance, horses are used to increase motor and muscular functions of people with neuromuscular damage or deficits. The patients are places securely on the horses back, and as the animal moves around, the patient is encouraged to attempt to move along with and balance themselves on top. Remarkable improvements have been found with this particular form of therapy! While some AAT teams do focus on improving a person's physical condition, most are there simply to help people feel good. Often sickness and infirmity is exacerbated by depression, loneliness or elevated stress levels, and if a visit by a canine clinician can help to improve a patients' state of mind, their physical condition improves as well!