Animal-assisted interventions (AAI)

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) have been found to have a positive impact on the emotional, social, physical, and cognitive well-being of participants.
AAA has been shown to improve the participants' emotional well-being, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression levels (Banks et al., 2008; Cole et al., 2007), social skills, improving communication, physiological benefits and cognitive function, including memory recall and problem-solving skills (Krause-Parello et al., 2014).

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Benefits of AAI

Physiological benefits:
Petting an animal can release such beneficial hormones as endorphin, prolactin, dopamine, oxytocin and beta phenylethalamine (Odendaal & Meintjes, 2002).

Lower blood pressure:
Numerous populations, including stockbrokers, report lower blood pressure when pets are introduced (Allen et al., 2001).

Stress relief:
animals can lower stress markers as compared to a spouse or close friend (Allen, 1998).

Survival of heart attacks:
pet owners have healthier hearts and fewer risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Mood improvement:
Animals can alleviate feelings of loneliness and depression, improving the mood of patients (Kaminski et al., 2002; Tsai et al., 2008).

Combating obesity:
Clinical evidence indicated that people are more effective at losing weight when they do it with a friend or companion (Becker & Kushner, 2006). Dog-walking is a form of regular exercise that motivates people and has a greater positive impact on exercise performance than walking with human confederates (Wohlfarth et al., 2013)

Hippotherapy:
Therapeutic riding addresses numerous physical health issues and improves mobility, balance, coordination, muscular strength, posture and language ability

Health concerns for seniors:
Elderly persons with pets visit physicians 16% less frequently; dog owners make 21% fewer visits (Siegel, 1990).

Pets and the aging:
Frequent animal interactions combat loneliness, enhancing the mood and well-being of an aging population.

Allergies:
Studies have reported that children who grow up with dogs or farm animals have a reduced risk of developing common allergies and asthma (Platts-Mills et al., 2001; Ownby etal., 2002, 2003; Fall et al., 2015).