The Benefits Of Animal-Assisted Therapy

Animal-assisted therapy is the use of animals in the therapeutic process in all medical settings including hospitals, nursing homes, and outpatient care facilities. Many patients in theses settings suffer from pain, depression, and anxiety, which all can be detrimental to the patient’s mental and physical wellbeing. Animal-assisted therapy requires animals to be certified by passing a test in order for the animal to be fully accessible and used in public. There are many types of animal therapy including; Pet Therapy, Animal-Assisted Therapy, and Canine-Assisted Therapy. In an interview with Sheryl Katzanek, she explains the differences between them. “Pet therapy is when animals are used to achieve a therapeutic goal for a patient in a therapy session. Animal-Assisted Therapy is a social interaction between an animal and a patient, that can improve a patient’s treatment method. While Canine-Assisted Therapy involves a social interaction between a …show more content…
This includes creating a way to generate relaxation or exercises for patients. For some patients, interacting with an animal can give them the security that they need to accomplish the activities and goals that are need for recovery. “The variety of populations served by therapeutic recreation specialists offers a unique intervention arena for the use of animals in programming” (Janssen 14). Patients in hospital can be in many different states of disability where pain and emotional distress may be involved. The intervention, or treatments being carried out on a patient must be able to allow the patient to remain stable while making improvements in their recovery process. These situations require animals to be gentle while still being valuable for the patient. Animals are able to create a relaxing and constructive environment so that patients can feel comfortable and be actively working on