Post by joly7123 on Mar 16, 2024 4:06:36 GMT
In recent years, and with increasing frequency, Animal Assisted Therapies (AAT) are considered an innovative therapeutic path to improve the quality of life of various groups and patients in different clinical contexts. As a result of the activities developed in these therapies, it can be seen that working with animals results in an improvement in physical, cognitive, emotional and relational functions . The benefits of Animal Assisted Therapies are scientifically demonstrable and the Affinity Foundation aims to measure and verify the effect of its different programs, but it is also important to understand that AATs have some barriers that limit their application.
Limitations of TAA when it is not possible to establish the link between the patient and the animals
When patients are unwilling or unable to form a bond with animals , AATs cannot De Cell Number achieve the goals of improving their lives or the results cannot be properly measured. In the case of children or adults who are afraid of dogs, because they have previously had negative experiences, it is very difficult for them to achieve a bond with the animal. Before making the first contact between the dog and the person, the therapist must know their previous experiences with animals and must try to gradually reduce the fear that the child or adult may have. The therapist can try to show the patient how the animal behaves and make him understand that not all animals are violent and that therapy dogs , especially, are trained to help him and do not have any trace of aggression. Phobias and fears can be worked on in specific therapy, with activities designed with this objective.
The same happens in the case of people with allergies to animals, as the therapist must verify if contact with the animal is safe for them. If the patient's health is at risk, he should be excluded from therapy or avoid activities in which he has a very close relationship with the animal. In one way or another, the possibilities of generating a bond with the animal are reduced and it is not possible to measure with certainty the effectiveness that TAA may have in people with animal allergies.
For older people with an advanced level of dementia, interaction with animals may be minimal. The therapist can place the dog next to or on top of your legs and provide contact that can calm it. In some cases it can be very difficult to get his attention and achieve visible positive results. Furthermore, if the level of dementia is very advanced, the person cannot express their feelings easily and it is very difficult to have clear certainty about the effectiveness of AAT on an emotional level, since observational measurement of the results cannot be carried out. In these cases, therapists guide the results of therapy with an objective measurement such as the apathy and irritability scale or are guided by the comments provided by their nurses or family members, but they do not have the complete map of the benefits of therapy. therapy in patients with advanced dementia.