Animals that are good at providing affection are often chosen to become a therapy animal. While dogs tend to be the first animal that comes to mind, most animals that are comfortable with people, thrive on human contact, and provide a calming influence can be trained for this role. Depending upon the patient’s needs, therapy animals already include horses, dolphins, llamas, cats and rabbits.

Where Do Therapy Animals Go?                    

Therapy animals provide affection and comfort to people who may find themselves in some of the following places:

• Hospitals
• Retirement homes
• Nursing homes
• Hospices
• Disaster areas
• Assisted living facilities
• Shelters
• Schools
• Libraries
• Physical therapy centers
• Prisons
• Detention facilities
• Rehabilitation facilities

The animals taken to these settings have received obedience training and have been assessed to make sure that they can comfortably interact with people and other animals, and that they can behave appropriately in unfamiliar environments.

Main Types of Therapy Animal Classifications

Therapeutic Visitation

• The most common type of therapy animal
• These animals belong to someone and have a home of their own, but the owners take the animals to visit people who are in facilities, often due to illness or court ordered placement
• The therapeutic visitation animal assists by:
• Helping to brighten the spirits of a person who is missing their home, family members, and pets
• Motivating and encouraging patients to work harder in their therapy or treatment program by reminding them they have their own home and pets waiting for their return

Animal-Assisted Therapy

• These therapy animals are involved in individual or group forms of treatments that are led by trained individuals such as:
• Physical therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Benefit people of varying health and mental conditions, such as:
• Autism
• Addiction
• Cancer
• Chronic pain
• Dementia
• Disorders including:
• Behavioral
• Developmental
• Emotional
• Psychiatric
• Patient therapy is experienced when interacting with the animal through:
• Grooming
• Petting
• Walking
• Caring and tending to the animal’s needs
• Benefits of working with an animal-assisted therapy animal include:
• Improvements in:
• Fine motor skills
• Balance
• Willingness to be involved in activities
• Problem-solving skills
• Social skills
• Increased:
• Focus and attention
• Self-esteem
• Sense of trust, empathy, and teamwork
• Self-control
• Reduced:
• Anxiety, grief, isolation
• Blood pressure
• Depression
• Health risks such as heart attack or stroke
• Need for medication

Facility Therapy Animal

• Focus of work is on bettering the quality of life and education of individuals with disabilities or special needs
• Animals have professional handlers that have received special training for their roles, for example:
• Therapists
• Counselors
• Guidance counselors
• Psychologists
• Rehabilitation therapists
• Benefits include patient improvements in areas such as:
• Motivation
• Calming atmosphere and level of comfort experienced with the animal increases patient motivation
• Recovery Motivation
• Increases client movement and participation in physical activities as physical stimuli of animal encourages patients to overlook pain
• Social Interaction and Language
• Animals encourage dialogue with their calming demeanors which promotes improvement in social and emotional development
• Friendship
• Interaction provides comfort, support, and friendship to people who find it difficult to relate to and be around other people
• Responsibility
• Desire to be with the animal can act as a motivator or reward system and help teach responsibility
• Feelings of Well-being
• Improve a patient’s feeling of safety with their calm presence
• Reduce and relieve stress and anxiety
• Provide comfort and aid in removing feelings of loneliness

The goal of using animals to assist with therapy is to improve the life of people. Involving animals in the daily routines of settings that require a patient to be away from home is felt to motivate and improve their social and emotional well-being.

Want to hear more about ways to help clients with therapy animals? Contact your Covetrus representative at 855.724.3461.

Information gathered from:
http://www.crchealth.com/types-of-therapy/what-is-animal-assisted-therapy/
http://www.nsarco.com/therapy-animal-info.html
http://www.therapydogsunited.org/programs/facility_therapy_dog/