Animal Assisted Therapy Provides Help for Many People

Dear Dr. LeCrone:

As a psychologist, I thought you would be interested in learning about Animal-Assisted Therapy and how it helps improve people’s physical and emotional health.

For people who relate to pets, numerous studies have shown that positively interacting with animals can:

● Reduce blood pressure.

● Lower stress levels.

● Inspire exercise.

● Inspire verbal communication.

● Make them feel happier.

As Delta Society co-founder Dr. Michael J. McCulloch said, “In an age of research when it is tempting to reduce human emotions to biochemical reactions and to rely heavily on the technology of medicine, it is refreshing to find that a person’s health may be improved prescribing contact with other living things.”

Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is gaining popularity with patients and health-care professionals as more people experience the healing benefits of therapy animals.

Working alongside health-care professionals, therapy animals are providing joy, compassion and motivation to patients.

Before patients are visited by a therapy animal (usually a dog, but it could be a cat, a horse or other species), they are screened to ensure that this type of session is a viable choice for them.

The health-care professional then works with the therapy animal’s handler to identify specific goals for each session. After the session, the patient’s progress is noted in their record.

For example, AAT may be utilized to help a patient walk while recovering from a stroke.

For various reasons, some stroke patients are resistant to exercise and the health-care professional may ask the patient if instead of doing his regular therapy, he would like to walk a dog.

The patient, holding one leash, is assisted by the physical therapist in walking down the corridor while the dog’s handler is holding a second leash that maintains control of the dog. The patient is thereby able to focus on the joy of the dog.

A few of AAT’s goals:

● Increasing verbal interaction.

● Reducing loneliness.

● Increasing attention.

● Improving wheelchair skills.

● Reducing anxiety.

● Improving interactions with others.

To learn more about AAT and how you might be able to volunteer with your own pet to help people in hospitals, nursing homes and physical therapy, please visit the Delta Society’s Web site, www.DeltaSociety.org. — Jo Ann Turnbull

Dear Jo Ann:

Many people benefit from Animal-Assisted Therapy. Many thanks for sending this helpful information.