Animal Assisted Therapy
Original Editor - Trista Chan
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Description[edit | edit source]
Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a therapeutic approach that incorporates specially trained animals into healthcare to enhance the well-being of individuals with cognitive or physical disabilities. AAT is used by various health professionals, for example, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, psychologists and more. The most common types of AAT are canine therapy and equine therapy, but other animals including farm animals, cats and guinea pigs are also being used.
Indication[edit | edit source]
Animal Assisted Therapy is found to be beneficial in a wide range of physical and cognitive conditions, such as dementia/Alzheimer's, oncology and palliative care, pain management, autism, ADHD, trauma and patients with physical, communication or cognitive disabilities, etc.
Dementia/ Alzheimer's disease[edit | edit source]
Studies have found that AAT has a positive physiological and neurological impact, including improvements in both cognition and mood[1], on patients' with Alzheimer's disease[2]. Additionally, due to the presence of animal, AAT improves patients' social behaviour, as it encourages them to engage in social interaction and reduces the feeling of isolation[3].
Oncology/ palliative care[edit | edit source]
Autism/ ADHD[edit | edit source]
Physical disability[edit | edit source]
Communication disorders[edit | edit source]
Cognitive disability[edit | edit source]
Types of Animal Assisted Therapy[edit | edit source]
Canine therapy[edit | edit source]
Hippotherapy/ equine-assisted therapy[edit | edit source]
Other types of AAT[edit | edit source]
Resources[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Santaniello A, Garzillo S, Amato A, Sansone M, Di Palma A, Di Maggio A, et al. Animal-Assisted Therapy as a Non-Pharmacological Approach in Alzheimer’s Disease: A retrospective study. Animals [Internet]. 2020 Jul 6;10(7):1142. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10071142
- ↑ Gregorini A, Di Canio A, Palmucci E, Tomasetti M, Rocchi M, Colomba M. Effects of Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) in Alzheimer’s Disease: a case study. Healthcare [Internet]. 2022 Mar 18;10(3):567. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10030567
- ↑ Quintavalla F, Cao S, Spinelli D, Caffarra P, Rossi FM, Basini G, et al. Effects of Dog-Assisted therapies on cognitive mnemonic capabilities in people affected by Alzheimer’s Disease. Animals [Internet]. 2021 May 11;11(5):1366. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051366
