The first in a series of 3 articles on animal assisted therapy.
By Lin Goodman, Best Friends Network VolunteerIn animal-assisted therapy, pets and their guardians, known as “working teams”, visit people who need extra emotional support. The client gets to bond with the animal through speech and touch, and it can make all the difference in that person’s day.
It is well known that pet owners usually live longer, get sick less often, and have lower blood pressure than people who don’t have a pet. The therapy team visits depressed and emotionally unstable folks as well as children and adults who are ill or have physical disabilities. The team can also visit people in prison in addition to the other options listed above. A person’s level of stress is lowered simply by petting and talking to the therapy animal, which is usually a dog more often than not. However, other animals such as cats, horses, rabbits, birds, and even dolphins are used in animal-assisted therapy. For example, quite often, a horse will be used to help with sense of balance as well as a sense of self-esteem, as individuals are able to get up, sit on, and ride the horse.
The qualifications of a therapy pet are as follows:
• the ability to calmly and comfortably interact with all different types of people in various institutions or in the client’s home
• the ability to accept strangers in foreign situations
• the ability to ignore any distractions that might pop up
In general, the animal must have calm, peaceful energy, and be well-trained with excellent behavior. They must also enjoy cuddling with the client or simply being petted. It’s a well-known fact these days that all of our furry friends can do much to improve our emotional and physical health. You can consider therapy animals to be the huggable part of your healthcare team.
The Delta Society, the largest organization to promote animal-assisted therapy, has already trained over 3,000 animal-human teams in 5 countries since 1990 to take part in its “Pet Partners” program. Though dogs are usually thought of when animal-assisted therapy is brought up, the Delta Society has registered its “Pet Partners” as including: cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, goats, pot-bellied pigs, horses, donkeys, African Grey parrots, cockatoos, chickens, and llamas. Instead of settling on specific breeds, it is the temperament of the animal itself that helps to make the decision of who can and cannot be used in this form of therapy. Before qualifying for the program, both the animal and its guardian must be tested and trained. The animal must be able to:
• be hugged and squeezed, cried into, yelled at, and be the victim of dropped objects
• easily handle crowded hallways and crowds in general, as well as wheelchairs and loud sounds
• remain calm if bumped into, and remain calm if something should topple over onto them
The guardian half of the team is also screened, with their tolerance tested around some disturbing scenarios they might happen into; from the outbursts of the mentally ill to the sight of severe injuries.
There are other fairly numerous organizations that also train the teams to successfully take part in attaining positive results in this field. The range of therapy can span from just spending time being loved by their client/patient to actively taking part in the rehabilitation of those with disabilities.
Animal-assisted therapy reinforces the mutual bond between animals and humans. Just as the client/patient gains from an animal’s visit, it has been shown that the interaction benefits the animal as well. The shared bond and the human’s energy slows down the animal’s heart rate and lowers its blood pressure, just as the animal’s energy does for the person.
For more information on The Delta Society, please click <a href="
http://www.deltasociety.org/"; target="_blank"> here</a>
For more information on the Pet Partners program, please click <a href="
http://www.deltasociety.org/VolunteerAboutFaq.htm"; target="_blank"> here</a>
Photo of a service dog retreived from Flickr, taken by: sillydog Article posted by Brandi Bennett, Best Friends Network