Människan har funnits i nästan två hundra tusen år, och hunden har varit ett husdjur hälften så länge. Evolutionen har format människan till en nyfiken, social varelse med starka emotionella band och goda kommunikationsegenskaper. Människans avancerade perceptionsförmåga kräver en komplicerad neurologisk struktur som lätt störs eller skadas av till exempel stress. Bandet mellan människan och hennes husdjur kan vara mycket starkt och fylla många mänskliga behov. Animal-Assisted Activity är målinriktade aktiviteter för att öka människans livskvalitet genom att utnyttja det band som finns till djuren. Syftet är att beskriva funktion hos och effekten av Animal-Assisted Activity och umgänge med djur i allmänhet. Metoden är en deduktiv tematisk deskription och materialet redovisas under tre teman: social, psykologisk och fysiologisk funktion och effekt. Resultaten pekar mot att AAA och umgänge med djur har en positiv funktion för människors hälsa, men det är svårt att precisera vad det är som ger effekt. / Denna översiktsartikel är en påbyggnad av en C-uppsats om nyttan med Animal-Assisted Therapy, "Therapets", skriven under handledning av Ojan Olsson som en examensuppsats vid Socionomlinjen på Socialhögskolan i Stockholm år 2000

At two nursing homes for people with dementia a qualitative study was performed. The purpose was to investigate the therapy dog‟s meaning to people with dementia from their perspective. Two women and five men with dementia were interviewed, everyone being somewhere between 60 and 87 years of age. All but one had previously owned a dog at some point in their lives. From the content analysis four categories could be identified: activity, fellowship, friendship and without positive meaning. The therapy dog had different meanings to the different people. The therapy dog had a positive meaning to five of the interviewed participants. Most of the participants had a positive approach to the therapy dog. It was considered to be good company and a good friend, as well as something to play and interact with. Two of the participants did not consider the therapy dog to be of any particular meaning to them, one of them showing disinterest for the subject. Knowledge about attitude to and experience of dogs for persons with dementia during the healthy part of life is important in order to have a well-established therapy with therapy dogs. / På två vårdboenden för personer med demens genomfördes en kvalitativ studie, med syftet att ta reda på vilken betydelse vårdhunden hade för dem ur deras eget perspektiv. Två kvinnor och fem män med demens inkluderades och intervjuades. De var mellan 60 och 87 år. Alla utom en hade tidigare haft egen hund. Ur innehållsanalysen framkom fyra kategorier: aktivitet, gemenskap, kamratskap och utan positiv betydelse. Vårdhunden hade olika betydelse för olika informanter. Flertalet av de intervjuade hade en positiv inställning till vårdhunden. Den var ett sällskap, en god kamrat och man lekte/hade aktivitet tillsammans. Två av de intervjuade tyckte inte att vårdhunden hade någon positiv betydelse, varav en uttryckte ointresse för vårdhunden. Kunskap om inställning till och erfarenhet av hundar under den friska levnadstiden hos personer med demens är viktig för att de ska uppfatta vårdhunden och terapin som positiv.

Humans and dogs have lived among each other in mutually beneficial relationships for thousands of years. In recent years, this human-animal bond has emerged as a catalyst for animal-assisted activities and therapies that may benefit those with disabilities, including children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). ASD are characterized by qualitative impairments in social interaction and communication and restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities. The nonverbal and nonjudgmental nature of dogs may be non-threatening and easier for children with ASD to decode, which may decrease anxiety and facilitate social bonding. Further, with their roles as social lubricants/transitional objects and natural foci of interest, dogs may facilitate social interaction between children with ASD and other people. Using a single case, multiple baseline design across participants, this study investigated whether multiple semi-structured interactions with dogs would increase social and communicative behaviors and decrease restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior in children. Although only two had statistically significant results, all three participants showed responses to intervention in the hypothesized directions. This study supports the position that children with ASD may benefit from participating in animal-assisted activities with dogs.

Genom tiderna har det funnits ett särskilt band mellan människan och sällskapsdjuret. Forskning tyder på att denna relation bär med sig åtskilliga fördelar för människan. I den här studien undersöks vad hästen och hunden upplevs ha för inverkan på människan. I studien intervjuades 15 kvinnor som har djurrelaterade yrken. Nio beskrev hundens inverkan och sex beskrev hästens. Materialet komprimerades tills fem typer av inverkan framträdde: att människan (1) får en nära vän, (2) får välbefinnande, (3) får kraft, (4) utvecklar empati och (5) utvecklar ansvar. Skillnader som förekom var att hästberättelser fokuserade på gemenskap med andra människor i stallet och hundberättelser på sällskap från hunden. I berättelserna framkom även negativa teman som författarna har valt att bortse från och istället fokuserat på det positiva. Studien kan indikera att hundar och hästar kan komplettera varandra då de har olika syften i människans liv.

Existing authors (Reichert, 1998; Watson 2009) have described the unique positive impact of Animal Assisted Therapy in Counseling (AAT-C) on the client’s perception of the therapeutic alliance as well as the professional counselor’s ability to build positive alliances quickly. When implemented with appropriate education and training, AAT-C can positively impact the therapeutic experience of a diverse range of clients across a wide variety of settings (Chandler, 2012; Fine, 2004). AAT-C requires a specialized set of skills and competencies that allows professional counselors to incorporate specially trained animals into the counseling process to influence the therapeutic process in ways that are beyond the scope of traditional counselor-client helping relationships (Stewart & Chang, 2013). However, there is currently no definition of counseling-specific competencies to guide practitioners in this specialty area. To address this gap, the presenters conducted an investigation using the Grounded Theory Method (Charmaz, 2006; Guba & Lincoln, 1989) to address the following research question: What knowledge, skills, and attitudes are required of competent practitioners of AAT-C? Based on the themes and subthemes that emerged from the data, the authors constructed a theoretical framework which represents competencies in AAT-C. Using this theoretical framework, the authors uncovered a total of nine essential competency areas for professional counselors utilizing AAT-C. They are divided into three domains in accordance with the competency framework that includes Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes (Myers & Sweeny, 1990).

Zootherapy is a method based on a positive interaction between animals and humans. The contact with animals has proved good in the treatment of attention and communication disorders, in ill people, in psychiatric patients, the elderly, the sensory, mentally or physically disabled people, but also in healthy individuals. The methods used are Animal Assisted Activities (AAA), Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) and Animal Assisted Education (AAE). Zootherapy in educational institutions has a positive impact on social relationships and learning, developing vocabulary, memory, emotions, it helps enhance self-reliance and it also has effect on physical condition of a child. The objective of this study was to survey the ways of zootherapy utilization in educational institutions in the České Budějovice region. The method of quantitative research was used to achieve the aims. Data were collected by the technique of participating observation, semi-standardized interview, documents analysis and photo-documentation. By the pilot research 9 facilities were chosen. The results have shown that the most frequently used animals are dogs and horses. Most often, zootherapy is carried out by attending the AAA program. The AAE method is not much used, although educational institutions that are involved. Zootherapy is predominantly practiced in people with disabilities. The most professionally developed technique is canistherapy. Zootherapy is provided on a regular basis. Funding is supported by grants, projects, subsidies, sponsors, parents. Educational institutions personnel have little knowledge of zootherapy. Legislature is executed mainly by a contract between the facility and the providing organization. The research outcomes suggest the following hypotheses: H 1: ``The only zootherapy provider in educational institutions within the České Budějovice region are the o.s. Hafík, o.s. Koníček and o.s. Arpida.`` H 2: ``Educational institutions in the České Budějovice region do not have conditions for the resident form of zootherapy.{\crqq} The thesis may serve as a resource for professionals, zootherapists, but also for the general public. All the information is arranged into the register of ways of using zootherapy in educational institutions.

Background: In an ever-changing society with inadequate resources, the elderly are easily forgotten. Despite the risk of side-effect, pharmaceutical drugs are added to promote their quality of life. Instead of drugs as a first step, perhaps one can give man's best friend a chance. Aim: The aim of this study was to illuminate the therapy dog’s impact on the quality of life of the elderly person. Method: This study was a qualitative literature-based study with an inductive approach, using a qualitative content analysis of the results from eight qualitative scientific articles. Result: The study resulted in three themes and eight sub-themes. The therapy-dog had a positive impact on the quality of life of the elderly person, both subjective and objective. The experience of well-being was created by the therapy-dog's influence to develop old memories, the feeling of harmony, and a break from everyday life. New opportunities were created when the care dog motivated the elderly to dare to open up, activate, and seek new relationships. Conclusion: The result shows that the meetings with the therapy-dog had positive impacts on several fronts of the elderly. What counts as beneficial impacts is subjective as well as relative. Contrary to everything positive, negative impacts may also occur. Conclusions that can be deduced from this study’s result are that the therapy-dog as an implementation contributes positively to the elderly's quality of life. It should be noted, however, that this intervention is not for everyone as there are allergies, fears, negative impacts and general dislike towards dogs and that this has to be respected. Keywords: Elderly, animal assisted therapy, health, quality of life.

Bakgrund: Varje år insjuknar uppskattningsvis 25 000 personer i Sverige i någon form av demenssjukdom. Behovet av anpassad vård för denna specifika grupp kräver nya och även utvecklade omvårdnadsmetoder. I nuläget finns ingen botande behandling för de olika demenssjukdomarna, utan fokus ligger vid att mildra besvären av sjukdomsbundna symtom. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) och Animal-assisted activity (AAA) har blivit allt mer populärt inom olika områden av omvårdnadsarbete. Djur kan inverka positivt på både fysiologiska och psykologiska symtom, och därmed användas av sjuksköterskor som ett ytterligare verktyg inom den personcentrerade omvårdnaden. Syfte: Att undersöka hur personer med demenssjukdom påverkas av omvårdnadsåtgärder som innefattar djur. Metod: Systematisk litteraturstudie med deskriptiv design. Arbetet behandlade 18 artiklar som på något sätt använde sig av Animal-Assisted Therapy eller Animal-Assisted Activities eller som på annat sätt hade djur inom demenssjukvården. Studien innefattade djur som hund, katt, akvariefisk, fågel och både gosedjur och mer avancerad djurrobot. Resultat: Studiens resultat visar hur djurs deltagande i omvårdnadsarbetet med demenssjuka personer, eller att bara finnas i deras vårdmiljö, hjälpte att minska nivåerna av ångest och stress, sänkte blodtrycket, och även om de inte minskade den degenerativa utvecklingen av demenssjukdomar, så visade resultat att de inte blev sämre. Slutsats: Enligt denna litteraturstudie framgår det att djur av olika slag bör ses som en värdefull tillgång inom omvårdnadsarbetet av demenssjuka, då det ökar livskvalité och bromsar sjukdomens fortskridande. / Background: Every year, approximately 25 000 people in Sweden are diagnosed with a form of dementia. The need for adapted care for this demographic is current and thus new forms of care and treatment need to be found and be up to date. There are currently no curing treatment for dementia, instead, focus is to decrease the suffering of the symptoms connected to a dementia diagnosis. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) and Animal-assisted activity (AAA) has increased its popularity within different areas of care. Animals can have a positive effect of both physical as psychological symptoms. Thus there are reasons to believe that animals can and should be used by nurses, as a further step of developing patient-centred methods of care. Aim: This review looked into the different forms animals can help in the treatment of people with dementia, especially focusing on how animals affect the different but typical symptoms of dementia. Method: A review of 18 original articles that has been studying Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT) and Animal-Assisted Activity (AAA) or any other form of animals presenting itself in the dementia care. This included several different types of animals, like dogs, cats, aquatic fish and even stuffed animals and a robot seal. Result: The result of this review was that animals’ participation in the treatment of people with dementia, or just occurring in these people’s every day life, helped reducing the levels of anxiety and stress, lowered their blood pressure, and if not reduced at least halted the degenerative process of the illness. Conclusion: According to the results to this review, animals should be considered to be a valuable asset in the treatment and care of people suffering of dementia, since they increase the quality of life of those with dementia, and in best case scenario reduces the progression of the disease.

Constructs of human-animal relational theory (HART) were investigated to determine how those constructs manifested in animal-assisted therapy in counseling (AAT-C) from the perspectives of 6 participants (2 counselors, females, ages 28 and 32, both non-Hispanic and White; 2 clients, male and female, ages 55 and 23, respectively, both non-Hispanic and White; and, 2 therapy animals, canines, Labrador retriever and spaniel mix, ages 4 and 5, respectively). Using constructivist-grounded theory, a research team analyzed qualitative data from observations, interviews, and field notes. From the iterative process of multiphasic coding and constant comparison, these findings emerged: (a) consistency between Chandler's (in press) constructs and participants' experiences of AAT-C, (b) more meaningful therapeutic impacts for clients from client-initiated human-animal relational processes (HARPs) than counselor-initiated HARPs, (c) development of rich definitions and descriptions of Chandler's constructs, and (d) descriptions of interactive experiences of AAT-C and client resistance in the context of HART. Clinicians and educators in the field of AAT can apply the processes, practices, and principles from this study in their work to enhance positive therapeutic impacts for clients. As Chandler's constructs were supported in this study, AAT authors and researchers can solve a glaring problem of inconsistent terminology in the AAT literature by using those constructs in future studies and publications as operationalized nomenclature for standardized AAT interventions.

This study examined the changes in symptoms of anxiety, depression, and social ill dysfunction associated with a history of child trauma after adding animal-assisted therapy (AAT) to conventional psychotherapy for adolescents living in a residential treatment facility in northern California. Using a quasiexperimental design, participants were followed over a period of nine weeks, with both groups completing the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory , an abbreviated version of the Beck Depression Inventory, and the Youth Self-Report, and residential staff completing the Youth Outcome Questionnaire at three time points. In addition, the treatment group completed state anxiety and depression assessments before and after receiving the adjunctive AAT at each of these assessment points. Analyses suggest that the treatment group mean depression score was lower than the control group's score, but only at week 5. The significance of group differences in mean anxiety at posttest assessments could not be determined due to pretreatment group differences. Within-subjects analyses suggest that the treatment group experienced significant reductions in mean state anxiety scores after receiving the AAT at each of the three assessment points over the nine weeks. These reductions in anxiety were not, however , maintained between assessments. No significant changes in self- or other-reported social behaviors were found. Implications of these findings are discussed as well as suggestions for future research.