AN ASSISTED THERAPY CONCEPT FOR IMPROVING OF MENTAL HEALTH: ANIMAL ASSISTED THERAPY

Abstract

Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) is a complementary intervention method using the advantages of human and animal interact on in order to support quality of life in patients with chronic disease and to help in the treatment of the diseases which have negatively impact on mental health. In recent years, studies have shown that AAT has important benefits for protection and development of physical, mental and social health state of individual in public health area. The aim of this review is to survey benefits and application ranges of AAT in treatment of mental disorders and also to present some information about the results of these investigations. Nowadays, AAT most widely used in the treatment of some psychiatric disturbances including pervasive developmental disorders, dementia and Alzheimer disease, loneliness, stress, depression, anxiety, drug usage caused by psychiatric diseases, aphasia and schizophrenia. If an AAT has been performed by expert team according to suggested guidelines, it has been shown to ease some difficulties encountered during treatment of psychiatric diseases and so therapy session times could be diminished. Thus, AAT has provided considering improvements on mental health of individuals. To date, there has not been any study performed in this field in Turkey. It is quite important to evaluate the benefits of this therapy accurately and to select various methods consistent with public health. As a summary, we believe that AAT should be considered as a adjunctive therapy method for improving quality of life during treatment of some mental diseases.