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CARING CANINE COMPANIONS
Making a Difference
ANIMAL INTERVENTION THERAPY
Animal Intervention Therapy is a short-term intervention intended to improve the sense of well being and to reduce loneliness
Our Animal Intervention Therapy program requires dogs that meet specific health, temperament and companionable requirements. Our aim is to provide a warm, loving atmosphere in the Residential Aged Care Homes we visit, as well as providing a break in the daily routine and something for residents to talk about.
Animal Intervention Therapy can be used to achieve many goals, including:
REDUCING LONELINESS
The partnership that exists between you and your dog can reach out to lonely and isolated residents.
IMPROVING COMMUNICATION
Depression, loneliness and isolation decrease communication skills. You and your dog can make it easier for two strangers to talk, and rekindle a resident’s desire to communicate,. The dog provides a common interest and a focus for conversation.
FOSTERING TRUST
As visits progress, the residents’ desire to touch the dog and communicate will become stronger.
IMPROVING COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING
Many residents who suffer from dementia in particular can become animated and even put sentences together when enjoying a visit from you and your dog.
ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF LIFE
Visiting with your dog brings a great deal of enjoyment into the Nursing Home or Hostel, makes for pleasant interaction, telling of stories and a constant topic of conversation. It is a change of routine, entertainment and a distraction from pain and infirmity. The visit leaves behind memories not only of the visit, but of past experiences. It offers something for people to share.
IMPROVING PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING
Stroking a dog, brushing the dog’s coat, holding a small dog on the lap, stretching and turning,
encourages exercise for arms and hands that usually lay still.
DECREASING STRESS AND ANXIETY
Research shows stroking a dog relieves stress. Residents feeling unwell forget their problems and anxiety is relieved when talking about the visiting dog or dogs they owned.
MOTIVATION
The visiting partnership is a motivation for the resident to talk, walk, stroke the dog, move out of the restrictive environment of their room and interact within the aged care community in which they live.
Phone 1800 077 722
Reply Paid 83004
Woodside
South Australia, 5244
