it's a part of mind-body therapy (psychiatric nursing)

1. MIND – BODY
THERAPY
Presenting by,
S. Anusha
M.sc(N)

4. “ A pet is an island of sanity in what appears to be an
insane world. Friendship retains its traditional value
and securities in one’s relationship with one pet.
Whether a dog, cat , bird, fish, turtle or what have
you once can rely upon the fact that one’s pet will
always remain a faithful, intimate, non competitive
friend – regardless of the good or ill fortune life bring
to us”
-- Dr Boris Levinson, child psychologist

5. • Animal-assisted therapy (AAT),
also known as pet therapy,
utilizes trained animals and
handlers to achieve specific
physical, social, cognitive, and
emotional goals with patients.
• Animal assisted activities provide
opportunities for motivation,
education or recreation to
enhance quality of life.

6. • Provides opportunities for motivational, educational and or
recreational benefits to enhance quality of life.

7. • Is goal directed intervention in which an animal
meeting specific criteria is an integral part of
the treatment process.
• Promote improvement in human physical, social,
emotional, cognitive functioning.
• Provided in variety of settings & may be group or
individual

8. • Reduction – physio, psycho
pain
• Improved self care, self
esteem
• Greater sense of personal
control, purpose
• Enhancement positive
sensations – affection,
pleasure

9. • Reduction in feelings of agitation, fear, anxiety
• Encouraging cooperation, empathy, problem solving
• Lessening boredom,isolation, lonlinesss
• Facilitating greater compliance to medical treatment
• Increased optimism, feelings of empowerment
• Greater levels of concentration, attention

10. Goals:-
• improving motor skills and joint movement
• improving assisted or independent movement
• increasing self-esteem
• increasing verbal communication
• developing social skills
• increasing willingness to join in activities
• improving interactions with others
• motivating willingness to exercise

11. Cont..,
• Other benefits of pet therapy include:
• making you happier, lessening depression, and
improving your outlook on life
• decreasing loneliness and isolation by giving you a
companion
• reducing boredom
• reducing anxiety because of its calming effects
• helping children learn empathic and nurturing skills
• improving the relationship between you and your
healthcare provider

12. • Less lonely
• Less depressed
• Change from routine
• Renewal of old friendships
• Entertaining
• Petting encourages use of
hands, arms, stretching and
turning
• Stroking a dog or cat reduce BP

13. • Cancer – improve depression, oxygen saturation
• Dementia – improved eating habit, claming effect,
improved self esteem, communication skills
• Heart health – lower BP, stress hormone level
• Mental health- children with pervasive development
disorder becomes playful and social after therapy,
autistic children
• Psychiatric disorder- schizophrenia, anxiety - improve
ability of independent self care, experience pleasure
• Reduce anixety
• Pain –

14. Cont..,
• It’s well-known (and scientifically proven) that
interaction with a gentle, friendly pet has significant
benefits.
Physical Health:
• lowers blood pressure
• improves cardiovascular health
• releases endorphins (oxytocin) that have a calming
effect
• diminishes overall physical pain
• the act of petting produces an automatic relaxation
response, reducing the amount of medication some
folks need

15. Cont..,
Mental Health:
• lifts spirits and lessens depression
• decreases feelings of isolation and alienation
• encourages communication
• provides comfort
• increases socialization
• reduces boredom
• lowers anxiety
• helps children overcome speech and emotional disorders
• creates motivation for the client to recover faster
• reduces loneliness

16. Cont..,
Reading: (PAWS for Reading)
• helps children focus better
• improves literacy skills
• provides non-stressful, non-judgmental environment
• increases self-confidence, reduces self-consciousness
In Physical Therapy
• increases joint movement and improves recovery time
• maintains or increases motor skills
• provides motivation to move more, stretch farther, exercise
longer

17. • Child improves reading skills
• Mental stimulation
• E.g. child recovering from traumatic brain injury
experiences considerable difficulty dressing and
grooming due to loss of function in one arm.
• The therapist may ask the child to reach out with the
weak arm to a pet ,brush or even feed the dog
• A wrist wt may be added to weak arm to develop
strength. Child becomes motivated , excited to
participate

18. Domestic animals
• Cats, dogs, birds,
• Hippo
• Calf
• Lamb
• Caged rodent
• Farm animals
• Horses
• fish

19. • Animals socialize
• Reinforce rehabilitative behaviors in patients-
throwing a ball, walking, verbal response
• Hippo therapy – improve posture, balance,
coordination.

20. • Lowers self esteem if animal rejects
• Death of animal – grief, guilt
• Human injury if animals are selected
inappropriately
• Zoonotic disease – if lack of sound sanitation,
veterinary supervision

21. • Interdisciplinary cooperation – physicians,
veterinarians, nursing staff, activity directors,
therapists, volunteers
• Planning – realistic goals, expectations, anticipating
problems and development of solutions prior
• Supervisions
• Animal selection – type, breed, size, age, sex,
medical & behavioral history , natural behavior.
• Animal training – positive reinforcement

22. Pet therapy and mental health
• A wide range of mental health conditions are
now treated through pet-therapy programs.
• Interactions with animals are considered to
offer benefits to patients suffering from post-
traumatic stress disorder, autism , and
challenging psychiatric disorders.

23. Cont..,
Animal therapy is also used
extensively to treat depression.
Petting an animal is believed to
cause the release of endorphins
(feel-good neurotransmitters)
which can have an extremely
positive impact in patients
dealing with depressive
disorders

24. • Dogs and other animals have taken part in
visiting programs to assisted living centers for
elderly people for many years.
• Although this type of interaction can certainly lift
the spirits of those living in such centers,
Alzheimer’s experts felt more could be gained
through structured animal-assisted intervention
programs.

25. • Therapy animals have also been successfully
used within treatment programs for individuals
with substance abuse issues.
• The presence of an animal can in itself help calm
the patient down and prepare them to face their
demons.

26. • Addicts often focus almost exclusively on
themselves.
• Engaging with an animal can encourage them to
think about the needs of others.
• Delivered in a group setting, addicts are also
more likely to interact socially with others if an
animal is involved.
• Doctors observing how the addict deals with the
animal also get a greater insight into the
patient’s self-esteem issues, helping them
identify specific coping mechanisms and
healthier new behaviors

27. Role of Nurses
• Often integrated into counseling programs,
• animal therapy can help learn more about
teamwork,
• communication,
• trust, and
• self-expression

28. • A study done in psychiatric centre – 250
patient referred for therapeutic recreation
sessions on AAT reduces anxiety levels of
psychiatric patients
• Pre and post treatment cross over study design
was used .
Result – statistically significant reductions in
anxiety scores were found – psychotic disorders,
mood disorder

29. • Studies prove- long survival rate of MI patients
with Pets than with no pets