Therapy dog
In the late 1800s, Florence Nightingale observed that small pets helped reduce anxiety and improve recovery in children and adults living in psychiatric institutions.
[citation needed] Brian Hare, director of Duke University Canine Cognition Center, says the human-canine bond goes back thousands of years.
Thus they love meeting new people including children, are very gentle, and are eager to sit on someone's lap for long periods of time and are small enough to do so.
[14] Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior at the time, proposed utilizing dogs with psychiatric patients at St Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, DC in the year 1919.
She discovered that patients of different ages living in a psychiatric institution were relieved from anxiety when they were able to spend time with small animals.
Dr. Levinson found the dog’s presence helped his pediatric clients with positive focus, communication, and allowing the initiation of therapy, and shared this information with the medical world in 1961.
About 10 years later, psychiatrists Sam and Elizabeth Corson at Ohio State University Psychiatric Hospital used Levinson's findings to expand this form of therapy to adults.
[18][19] Service dogs perform tasks for persons with disabilities and have a legal right to accompany their owners in most areas.
[34][medical citation needed] A large number of studies show that animals can offer relief and serenity to a wide age range of vulnerable people with various different emotional issues.
The presence of a dog in a therapy session has indicated improvements in a patient's outlook, as well as their willingness to share on a deeper level.
[38] The petting of an animal can also put a patient at ease, whereas a therapist must maintain a professional state and thus is unable to provide physical support.
The University of Connecticut uses therapy dogs in their program Paws to Relax, available during finals week to help students deal with increased anxiety.
[41] In 2009, Sharon Franks shared the idea of bringing therapy dogs to campus with the UC San Diego Office of Student Wellness.
[45] The university also works with the Inland Empire Pet Partners, a service of the Humane Society to bring therapy-certified dogs to the campus' Mental Health Day Spa, held quarterly.
[40] On December 14, 2012, therapy dogs were brought to the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, following the shooting and deaths of 26 people, providing comfort to children and parents.
The court system in King County, Washington uses a comfort dog with crime victims, particularly traumatized minors.
[32] Researchers have identified further cognitive benefits of therapy dogs, which include an increase in mental stimulation and assistance in the recall of memories and the sequence of events.
Personal pet visitation and animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) can benefit patients' pain, blood pressure, stress, depression, and anxiety, as well as increasing mobility and socialization with staff and families.
[67] Therapy dogs promote greater self-esteem in students and encourage positive interactions with peers and teachers.
Some include hygiene, allergies, cross-cultural expectations, safety of participants, animal welfare, and lack of consistent training or certification process and liability.
They follow guidelines for cleanliness (bathing and brushing dogs before sessions, keeping vaccinations up to date, trimming nails, human hand washing before and after visits) to alleviate most hygiene concerns.
Advance considerations of the responsibilities of handlers and the institution or organization include insurance and background checks to address liability.
There have been countless incidents of people misusing confusing restrictions, given the sometimes overlapping terminology and recent emergence of service dogs and ESAs.
To combat the issue of fraud, numerous states are enacting new regulations, the majority of which are centered on service animals.
