Pet therapy
Researchers are finding that pets truly have the power to heal their owners, especially the elderly. The most serious disease for older people is not cancer or heart disease, but loneliness.
In recent years, the experts have been relying on pet therapy as a valuable aid in reaching out to the elderly, the infirm, and to ill or abused children through-out the country. Therapy animals go to convalescent homes, hospitals, day care centers, juvenile halls, and prisons. These animals are trained to be calm, gentle and well-mannered, especially around rambunctious children. There are no breed requirements.
Pet therapy is a relatively new field of study, although the human-animal bond has existed for thousands of years. Pet therapy is a type of therapy that involves animals as a form of treatment. The goal of Pet therapy is to improve a patients social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. Animals can also be useful for educational and motivational effectiveness for participants
Animals are tools for therapy because they can make people feel safe and loved when they have been deprived of social interaction or hurt by other people. They do not communicate with words, and so patients afraid of approaching people can comfortably approach an animal. Additionally, a therapist who brings along a pet is viewed as being less dangerous by the patient, and so the previously uncommunicative patient is willing to share more with the professional. Animals commonly used for therapy include dogs, cats, horses, birds, rabbits, and other small animals.