Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Meta-Analysis
@article{Nimer2007AnimalAssistedTA, title={Animal-Assisted Therapy: A Meta-Analysis}, author={Janelle Nimer and Brad Lundahl}, journal={Anthrozo{\"o}s}, year={2007}, volume={20}, pages={225 - 238} }
ABSTRACTAnimal-assisted therapy (AAT) has been practiced for many years and there is now increasing interest in demonstrating its efficacy through research. [] Key Method We conducted a comprehensive search of articles reporting on AAT in which we reviewed 250 studies, 49 of which met our inclusion criteria and were submitted to meta-analytic procedures. Overall, AAT was associated with moderate effect sizes in improving outcomes in four areas: Autism-spectrum symptoms, medical difficulties, behavioral…
600 Citations
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References
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It is suggested that AAT plays an important role in enhancing the benefits of conventional therapy, and the benefit of including a non-AAT group for comparison is demonstrated, which demonstrates the importance of using longitudinal, repeated measure designs.
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Nutritional intake increased significantly when the aquariums were introduced and continued to increase during the 6-week weekly follow-up and participants required less nutritional supplementation, resulting in health care cost savings.
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The findings demonstrate the usefulness of using several methods for evaluation of the changes in patients given AAT, and the evaluation of salivary CgA, as a mental stress index, showed a decreasing tendency in the AAT group.
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Overall, during AAT residents were involved in as much or more conversation with others, including the animals, as residents in Non-Animal Therapy, and were more likely to initiate and participate in longer conversations.
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AbstractThis study investigated the effects of animal-assisted therapy (A-AT) on self-reported depression in a college population. Forty-four participants were selected on the basis of scores on the…
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