health and fitness: Paws for thought: how pet therapy is gaining traction

mercredi 30 décembre 2015

Paws for thought: how pet therapy is gaining traction

Animal assisted therapy has expanded far beyond hospital waiting rooms – today, animals assist with physical therapy, help tutor children and provide comfort in disaster zones

Animal therapy in action – video

The volunteers all describe it the same way. When they walk into a hospital, a nursing home or a school, everyone’s eyes light up at the sight of a therapy dog. It doesn’t matter if it is the patient being visited or the staff – everyone smiles.

Animal assisted therapy, once rare and met with opposition as something unproven that would only bring germs into hospitals, is gaining traction. Many hospitals and nursing homes now have animal therapy programs in place, including at the Mayo Clinic, despite little evidence into the impact on patients in the long term.