While the concept of a service dog has become fairly common, there are many other ways that animals can provide assistance, comfort and companionship to those facing long term health challenges. In particular, Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) can be extremely beneficial for children dealing with complex medical conditions.
What is Animal-Assisted Therapy?
Animal-Assisted Therapy partners companion animals with individuals experiencing complex medical conditions or ongoing health challenges. Over the course of ongoing visits and interactions, the animals help to provide comfort, foster connection and improve a person’s quality of life.
There are many types of AAT, but one that is particularly important to us at Brave Like Me Foundation is known as Therapeutic Visitation Animals. Therapeutic Visitation Animals are family pets trained to visit loved ones in hospitals, schools and other facilities. They provide comfort, joy, and help reduce the anxiety and loneliness that often comes with extended separations and challenges associated with complex medical conditions.
How does Animal-Assisted Therapy benefit children with complex medical conditions?
There are many benefits of engaging in Animal-Assisted Therapy, especially as it concerns children with complex medical conditions. From physical benefits to mental and emotional benefits, there are many ways in which pet therapy has a positive and prolonged impact on their human companions.
These benefits include:
- Reducing blood pressure
- Improve movement
- Improve recovery time for surgeries or procedures
- Enhancing self-esteem and self-confidence
- Reducing anxiety or feelings of loneliness and isolation
- Promoting greater emotional stability
- Improving both verbal and non-verbal communication skills
- Improving motivation and focus
- Facilitating personal and social development
At Brave Like Me, we’ve seen firsthand the incredible impact that our pets can have on our emotional and mental well-being. Did you know that out of the nearly 200 children’s hospitals in the U.S., only two of them have dedicated family pet centers? This is why we’ve created our mobile Family Pet Reunion Center. We understand the challenges families often face when trying to bring their family pet to a hospital to visit with their child. But with our mobile family pet center, we provide a safe, secure environment that fosters those moments of uninhibited joy experienced between a child and their beloved pet.
Learn more about our Family Pet Reunion Center here.
https://www.bravelikemefoundation.org/programs/brave-pets
Read more about the benefits of Animal-Assisted Therapy here:
UDS Foundation: A Guide to Animal Therapy for Kids with Disabilities
Paws for People: What are the benefits of pets and pet therapy?
National Library of Medicine: Animal-Assisted Counseling for Young Children: Evidence Base, Best Practices, and Future Prospects
