The Efficacy of Dog-assisted Therapy in Enhancing the Treatment Outcomes for Children, Adults, and the Elderly

Abstract

In times there has been a growing interest, in Canine assisted Therapy and animal assisted therapy as complementary methods to effectively support individuals of age groups who are facing mental health challenges. The purpose of this review is to evaluate how effective Canine assisted Therapy is in improving treatment outcomes for health issues in children, adults, and older adults. It also aims to identify promising interventions from existing research and explore the benefits and future directions of these additional approaches. Several studies have emphasized the effectiveness of animal assisted therapy across age groups. In children Canine assisted Therapy has proven valuable not for those with autism spectrum disorders but for those dealing with anxiety and needing help with reading. Among adults this form of therapy has shown to reduce test anxiety regulate mood and play a significant role in managing conditions such as anxiety, depression, and traumatic stress disorders. For adults animal assisted therapy has shown potential in improving mood enhancing motivation, for therapy and promoting activity as a means of preventing and alleviating Alzheimer disease. Although these discoveries show potential it's crucial to recognize some limitations in the research. These limitations include factors such, as the number of participants involved the duration of the studies conducted and the voluntary nature of participants. It is necessary to conduct research to validate the effectiveness of animal assisted therapy and explore its wider range of applications.