What is Pet Therapy?
Pet therapy is a service that is provided by people and their certified animals. Studies have shown that a patient’s blood pressure is lowered and the immune system is strengthened when interacting with companion animal. Residents in long term care facilities become bored and lonely. Animal visits lift the spirits and in some cases eliminate or reduce the need for psychotropic drugs. Therapy animals are also useful in physical therapy. Grooming, petting or throwing a ball can increase range of motion and provide low impact exercise for the residents. Animals are certified throughTherapy Dog International Certifying your animal is very important because it insures the pet owner in case of an incident. It is important for the facility to know that an animal is tested and determined to be safe to visit residents.
The term “pet therapy” should be avoided because it is inaccurate and misleading. This term was widely used several decades ago to refer to animal behavior training programs. Today we use the terms “animal-assisted activities” or “animal-assisted therapy”. These are the terms that human service providers and volunteers use when referring to the involvement of animals in human treatment programs. We do animal-assisted therapy when we work directly with a licensed healthcare or human service provider to help a patient meet specific goals. We do animal-assisted activities when we meet and greet people to brighten their day, or do a demonstration in front of a group of people. For more information, visit our About AAA/T section of this website.
