198 Results Found

This study analyzed the jobs of animal-assisted therapy specialists using the Development of a Curriculum (DACUM) technique, a job analysis method for the duties and tasks performed in a specific job. It derived nine duties and 54 tasks through a ver...

Research into the effects of animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) has primarily addressed human health outcomes. In contrast, only few publications deal with the therapy dog experience of AAIs. This paper provides an overview on potential welfare thr...

Background: In recent years, the possibility of intervening humans with animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been growing due to numerous physical, psychological, and social benefits provided to humanity, enabling them to maintain or improve their quali...

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a complementary intervention of therapy that has shown positive results in the treatment of various pathologies. This study assesses the viability of the implementation and the effectiveness of an AAT program in patie...

Background: Animal-assisted therapy using dogs is being administered to patients post-stroke for the purpose of recovering psychological and physical activity. Objective: This study was conducted to confirm the effect of animal-assisted therapy using...

Therapy dogs are increasingly being incorporated into numerous clinical settings. However, there are only a handful of studies that have focused on the impact of animal-assisted activity or therapy sessions on the wellbeing of the therapy dogs. Furth...

Text-mining techniques were used to provide basic data to related policy stakeholders and academic researchers by collecting and analyzing research trends related to animal-mediated healing in a short time. A total of 776 studies were collected using...

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is shown to be an effective method to foster neurorehabilitation. However, no studies investigate long-term effects of AAT in patients with acquired brain injuries. Therefore, the aim of this pilot study was to investiga...

Background: Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a clinical approach aimed at building valuable human–animal relationships with both preventive and therapeutic goals. It is provided by a healthcare professional and involves animals (meeting certain...

Background: The human–animal bond is crucial for the proper development of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) sessions. However, in specific cases such as in AAT focused on psychiatric patients who are admitted to acute units, there is only a short...

Dogs are considered the most important species involved in animal-assisted therapy (AAT), and the scientific literature focuses on the benefits linked to the involvement of dogs in various therapeutic areas. In this study, we carried out a systematic...

Therapy dogs have been increasingly incorporated into a variety of medical treatment programs to improve patients’ treatment outcomes and wellbeing. However, research investigating the stress level of therapy dogs in this setting is limited. Th...

Long-term hospital stays might have a negative psychosocial impact on our patients. One way to positively activate hospitalized patients is to introduce animal-assisted therapy (AAT). A total of 72 individuals participated in this research. The exper...

Recently, many efforts have been made to assess the effectiveness of non-pharmacological therapies as an alternative or supportive option to conventional approaches. Specifically, animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has recently raised a great interest and...

Background/Objectives: Pet therapy, also known as Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT), is increasingly recognized for its potential to support pediatric patients and their families in the hospital setting. This study explores the perceptions of parents of...

(1) Background: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are considered the gold standard for evaluating a treatment. However, the results of an RCT may remain meaningless for clinical practice in cases of poor intervention feasibility or fidelity (the ex...

Disorders of communication, social relationships, and psychomotricity are often characterized by cognitive impairment, which hinders daily activities and increases the risk of falls. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of an animal-assisted the...

Deficits in cognition, physical, and social functions in adults with schizophrenia may become salient with aging. While animal-assisted therapy (AAT) can benefit physical function in older adults and improve symptoms of psychotic disorders, the effec...

Background: Anxiety is highly prevalent among individuals living with disability, chronic illness, or hospitalisation, yet it often remains insufficiently addressed in healthcare settings. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been proposed as a compleme...

The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of an animal-assisted-therapy (AAT) program in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders and substance-use disorders in residential treatment in order to intervene in the remissio...

A stroke is a condition that can give rise to consequences such as cognitive and physical constraints, which sometimes manifest in the psychological condition of the patient. Such patients commence rehabilitation as soon as is possible, which involve...

This study was conducted to evaluate the presence of Campylobacter (C.) jejuni and C. coli in dogs at five dog training centers in Southern Italy. A total of 550 animals were sampled by collecting rectal swabs. The samples were processed to detect th...

The aim of this study was to apply the FaceReader technique to select the animal species and breed for a personalized AAT based on the emotions (‘neutral’, ‘happy’, ‘sad’, ‘angry’, ‘surprised&rsqu...

Animal-assisted interventions are widely implemented in different contexts worldwide. Particularly, animal-assisted therapies and animal-assisted activities are often implemented in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and other health facilities. Thes...

Background: Only a limited number of studies have investigated objective indicators to assess donkey welfare during Animal-Assisted Services. Objective: The present research follows a single-subject design and its objective is to evaluate the neurove...

Background: Animal-assisted interventions, in concrete dog-assisted intervention, have been introduced in prisons to reduce recidivism as well as to improve the well-being of prisoners. Therefore, the aim of the present systematic review is to provid...

Animal-assisted activities (AAAs) effectively improve the self-esteem of infants and young children, thereby playing a significant role in their growth into adolescence. In particular, in modern society, self-esteem during childhood and adolescence c...

Background/Objectives: Late-life depression is prevalent yet frequently underdiagnosed, underscoring the need for accessible and safe non-pharmacological approaches. Pet-assisted interventions, including live animal-assisted therapy and robotic pets,...

Health care and human service providers may include dogs in formal intervention settings to positively impact human physical, cognitive and psychosocial domains. Dogs working within this context are asked to cope with a multitude of variables includi...

Animal-assisted Interventions (AAI) proliferated rapidly since clinicians and researchers first noted the positive effects animals have on people struggling with physical and mental health concerns. The intersection of AAI with the field of animal we...

Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a non-pharmacological therapy aimed at people with physical and/or mental disabilities. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out interventions that guarantee its benefits for patients while also avoiding the risk of zo...

Chronic joint pain is associated to an increase in the consumption of medication and decrease in life quality in elderly people, which requires developing non-pharmacological treatments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectivity of a grou...

This study evaluated the feasibility of recruiting hospitalized older adults into a randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing an animal-assisted intervention (AAI) involving visits from therapy dogs with an active control (conversation with a volun...

Although the benefits of animal assisted therapy for people are well established, the ethical considerations for the welfare and safety of the non-human animals involved are not. Without an accrediting body responsible for creating and overseeing nat...

Animal-assisted services (AAS) depend on volunteer handler–dog teams, yet the emotional and relational impacts on volunteers when their therapy dog dies or retires remain largely unexplored. This study examines AAS volunteers’ experiences...

With the growth of female inmates worldwide, research regarding specific treatment of these has become more important. Although new programs have been started, the lack of scientific results is startling. The goal of the current study was to identify...

Access to human–animal interactions (HAI) have been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Service animals that were trained and accustomed to daily access to public places had to adjust to staying at home. Therapy animals and their handlers who previo...

Background and Objectives: Despite the scientific evidence of the positive effects of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), it is not still considered an evidence-based practice for this population. The proposed...

Microbial sharing between humans and animals has been demonstrated in a variety of settings. However, the extent of microbial sharing that occurs within the healthcare setting during animal-assisted intervention programs is unknown. Understanding mic...

Animal-assisted therapy has become a fast-growing and effective approach for remediating core impairments of children with ASD; however, recent systematic review studies on the effects of AAT in children with ASD have some limitations, including refe...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by cortical dementia and irreversibly progressive developments leading to a vegetative state and, finally, to death. Although many aspects of its etiology, diagnosis and tr...

Background: Eating disorders are characterized by a persistent disturbance that alters food intake and it is often accompanied by anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, or reduced functional capacity and quality of life. Animal-assisted therapies (AAT...

A severe mental illness like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is known to have psychosocial consequences that can lead to a decreased quality of life. Research in Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) has revealed that the presence of a dog can have a p...

During the past decade, the field of human–animal interaction(s) research has been characterized by a significant increase in scientific findings. These data have contributed to our current understanding of how humans may benefit from contact with an...

In recent years, requests for animal-assisted interventions (AAI) from medical institutions and welfare facilities have increased. Dogs are the most commonly used animals in AAI. Dogs that pass the “therapy dog” aptitude test can work in...

As interest in animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and canine-assisted psychotherapy (CAP) grows, there are increasing calls for the management of related health, safety, and welfare concerns for canines, providers, and clients. Existing health and safety...

As nursing is one of the most stressful occupations worldwide, its management warrants more attention to identify possible ways to cope with its pressures. This study aims to evaluate whether animal-assisted therapy (AAT) with the presence of a dog a...

Animal-assisted therapy has positive effects on cognitive function, depression, performance ability, and social functioning in elderly patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of rearing pet insects on the cognitive function of hea...

With the growth of animal-assisted interventions, the number of animals designated to work as therapy animals continues to increase. These animals participate in this work in varying capacities during life, but there will be a point in time when the...

(1) Background: Dog-assisted therapy (DAT) is an experiential intervention to promote psychological, physical, and social functioning in children and adults. Only few studies have been conducted on DAT in adults with a mild intellectual disability or...