Some organisations have devoted a lot of effort to promoting animal assisted activities in recent years. You may have come across some information about "therapy dogs" or "therapy cats" from the media. Some animals having passed character and obedience assessments are regularly visiting hospitals, schools, children's homes and nursing homes, etc.

Animal Assisted Therapy

What is animal assisted therapy? It refers to the application of animals to improve physical, social, emotional and cognitive abilities by healthcare or counselling professionals during the treatment process. An example is physiotherapists incorporating dogs to their training programmes to encourage patients recovering from stroke to try to stand up and walk. Many overseas hospitals, rehabilitation organisations and institutions have introduced animal assisted therapy to help different patients or the elderly.

Delta Society, an American organisation promoting animal assisted therapy, has classified the goals of animal assisted therapy into the following categories according to different needs:

1. Physical Ability

- improving motor skills

- improving skills of using a wheelchair

- improving standing balance

2. Mental Health

- increasing verbal interaction

- improving attention skills (e.g. to focus attention on a task)

- developing skills for leisure activities or games

- enhancing sense of self-esteem

- reducing anxiety

- reducing loneliness

3. Education

- increasing vocabulary

- improving knowledge of concepts (e.g. colors and size, etc.)

4. Motivation

- increasing willingness to be involved in group activities

- improving interpersonal communication

-increasing exercise

For disease prevention and control, animal assisted therapy is not popular in Hong Kong, and most medical institutions here have imposed many restrictions on the introduction of animal assisted activities or therapy. Currently, only a few hospitals allow visits by therapy animals. Though animal assisted therapy is not popular in Hong Kong, there are some cases of people getting emotional benefits gradually by interacting with pets.

The next article will be on experience of keeping pets.