Animals Helping with Healing


Book Description

For use in schools and libraries only. Explains how certain animals can provide therapy and perform tasks for sick or injured people.




Creature Comfort


Book Description

. . . a collection of wonderful and encouraging stories about 'Animal Assisted Therapy.' - Stanley Coren, author of The Intelligence of DogsThis inspiring, humorous, and touching book celebrates the beneficial effects that animals have on humans and describes how their healing potential is being increasingly acknowledged by the medical community. Animal Assisted Therapy, an important new development in health care, has already shown that people are statistically less likely to suffer an early heart attack if they have a pet, and that stroking an animal actually reduces stress levels.This, however, is only the tip of the iceberg, says environmental psychologist Bernie Graham. Animal Assisted Therapy is now achieving amazing results in treating children with physical and mental disabilities by using trained dolphins in acquatic therapy. There are also programs that teach dogs to help the disabled by taking laundry out of the washing machine; selecting, unpacking, and paying for items in the supermarket; and even withdrawing money from the bank. Cats, rabbits, and dogs are now taken into hospitals to comfort the patients, and more exotic animals such as ferrets, donkeys, guinea pigs, monkeys, and even tigers are being used to bring hope to individuals, thereby enhancing human efforts.Written with warmth and compassion, Creature Comfort looks at all aspects of Animal Assisted Therapy, including the theories behind it, to provide both a practical guide and a moving account of the many rewarding human-animal interactions. A must for pet lovers, health care workers, and anyone who wishes to benefit from this most holistic of therapies.Bernie Graham, an environmental psychologist, is a member of the British Psychological Society, the International Society for Anthrozoology, and the Society for Companion Animal Studies.




Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound


Book Description

A dog is an ideal workout partner: always supportive, happy to go for a walk and never judgmental. The human-companion animal bond is a great way to help you and your dog lose weight or stay fit. When people and dogs exercise together, fitness and health happen on both ends of the leash. As the obesity epidemic spreads, 70% of Americans and 50% of dogs are overweight or obese, resulting in staggering health care costs and suffering. The causes, consequences, and treatment for overweight and obesity are strikingly similar in people and dogs. Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound, written by an expert veterinary surgeon and a leading nurse researcher, helps you move from a food-centered relationship with dogs, to an exercise-centered relationship. Even better, you don’t have to own a dog! The book gives several creative suggestions to exercise or walk a dog even if you do not or cannot have one. This volume is designed for dog lovers, dog owners and families. Based on the latest scientific findings, it will also help professionals (including physicians, veterinarians, and physical therapists) fight obesity and promote fitness in both people and pets. Dog-walking programs can easily be implemented in neighborhoods, parks, workplaces, animal shelters, hospitals, retirement homes and obesity clinics, and this book shows you how to establish them. In nearly every health care profession, practitioners are teaching human patients and dog owners on a daily basis about the risks of obesity. Never has there been a more compelling time for innovative approaches to increasing physical activity, reforming sedentary lifestyles, and enhancing fitness. Walk a Hound, Lose a Pound provides specific strategies for people and dogs to exercise together, lose weight together, and have fun in the process.




Animals and Public Health


Book Description

A compelling argument of how human health is adversely affected by our poor treatment of non-human animals. The author contents that in order to successfully confront the 21st Century's health challenges, we need to broaden the definition of the word 'public' in public health to include non-human animals.




Use of Laboratory Animals in Biomedical and Behavioral Research


Book Description

Scientific experiments using animals have contributed significantly to the improvement of human health. Animal experiments were crucial to the conquest of polio, for example, and they will undoubtedly be one of the keystones in AIDS research. However, some persons believe that the cost to the animals is often high. Authored by a committee of experts from various fields, this book discusses the benefits that have resulted from animal research, the scope of animal research today, the concerns of advocates of animal welfare, and the prospects for finding alternatives to animal use. The authors conclude with specific recommendations for more consistent government action.




The Spirit of Animal Healing


Book Description

The Spirit of Animal Healing is the follow up to Dr. Marty Goldstein's bestselling book on holistic veterinary medicine, The Nature of Animal Healing. It is chock full of the very latest integrative medical knowledge (which combines conventional therapies with complementary and alternative medicine). Coupled with the vast amount of specialized expertise and learning Dr. Marty has gained from his own practice over the past 45 years, the book takes readers on a journey to the leading edge of integrative veterinary understanding to achieve greater insight into the minds and bodies of their animal companions. However, this book is not simply a new edition of Dr. Marty's first book with some refreshed content. It is a completely new book in which Dr. Marty turns the traditional approach to animal care upside down. The Spirit of Animal Healing provides readers with the most up to-date tools and knowledge they need to keep their dogs and cats healthy and prevent disease from occurring in the first place, instead of just treating their animal companions when they are sick. Topics covered include: *Nutrition and supplements *Integrative remedies and harmful treatments *Cutting edge therapies *The truth about vaccinations *The latest in cancer treatments *The spiritual nature of animals *True, mind-blowing cases from over the years -And much more!




Zoobiquity


Book Description

Engaging science writing that bravely approaches a new frontier in medical science and offers a whole new way of looking at the deep kinship between animals and human beings. Zoobiquity: a species-spanning approach to medicine bringing doctors and veterinarians together to improve the health of all species and their habitats. In the tradition of Temple Grandin, Oliver Sacks, and Neil Shubin, this is a remarkable narrative science book arguing that animal and human commonality can be used to diagnose, treat, and ultimately heal human patients. Through case studies of various species--human and animal kind alike--the authors reveal that a cross-species approach to medicine makes us not only better able to treat psychological and medical conditions but helps us understand our deep connection to other species with whom we share much more than just a planet. This revelatory book reaches across many disciplines--evolution, anthropology, sociology, biology, cutting-edge medicine and zoology--providing fascinating insights into the connection between animals and humans and what animals can teach us about the human body and mind.




Transforming Trauma


Book Description

Have you ever looked deep into the eyes of an animal and felt entirely known? Often, the connections we share with non-human animals represent our safest and most reliable relationships, offering unique and profound opportunities for healing in periods of hardship. This book focuses on research developments, models, and practical applications of human-animal connection and animal-assisted intervention for diverse populations who have experienced trauma. Physiological and psychological trauma are explored across three broad and interconnected domains: 1) child maltreatment and family violence; 2) acute and post-traumatic stress, including military service, war, and developmental trauma; and 3) times of crisis, such as the ever-increasing occurrence of natural disasters, community violence, terrorism, and anticipated or actual grief and loss. Contributing authors, who include international experts in the fields of trauma and human-animal connection, examine how our relationships with animals can help build resiliency and foster healing to transform trauma. A myriad of animal species and roles, including companion, therapy, and service animals are discussed. Authors also consider how animals are included in a variety of formal and informal models of trauma recovery across the human lifespan, with special attention paid to canine- and equine-assisted interventions and psychotherapy. In addition, authors emphasize the potential impacts to animals who provide trauma-informed services, and discuss how we can respect their participation and implement best practices and ethical standards to ensure their well-being. The reader is offered a comprehensive understanding of the history of research in this field, as well as the latest advancements and areas in need of further or refined investigation. Likewise, authors explore, in depth, emerging practices and methodologies for helping people and communities thrive in the face of traumatic events and their long-term impacts. As animals are important in cultures all over the world, cross-cultural and often overlooked animal-assisted and animal welfare applications are also highlighted throughout the text.




Companion Animals in Human Health


Book Description

Exactly how do animals affect the quality of life of their human companions? The 7th International Conference on Animals, Health, and Quality of Life set out to explore this question. A major result of this quest was Companion Animals in Human Health, a careful selection of jurored and invited papers from that conference. The articles in this volume address Human Animal Interaction (HAI) according to the elements that define quality of life: physical, mental, emotional, and social health; functional health; and general well-being. Beginning with an overview of human/animal interaction from historical and value perspectives, the authors develop a conceptual framework for HAI research and quality of life measurement. They then go on to explore the psychosocial and physiological impact of HAI. The concluding sections address the role of companion animals in human development and the training and welfare of animals in therapeutic programs. As a state-of-the-science document, Companion Animals in Human Health is a must-read for all health and social science professionals caring for clients who already have companion animals or for clients who might benefit from such interaction. Thus it will be of interest to those in the fields of clinical psychology, cognition, developmental psychology, family studies, gerontology, nursing, patient care, psychology, public health, and sociology.




Therapy Pets


Book Description

Pets love us unconditionally. They're always happy to see us, they encourage us when we're feeling down, and their devotion is touching and reassuring. If this is true for the average pet owner, it is especially true for the disabled, handicapped, emotionally troubled, and seriously ill person.In this uplifting book we learn firsthand how the field of Animal Assisted Therapy is having remarkable success training animals to help and enhance the lives of children and adults with serious medical problems. Hospital rehabilitation programs, physical and occupational therapy sessions, nursing homes, mental healthcare facilities, and hospice programs are just some of the settings where dogs, cats, horses, and other animals have helped patients cope with often daunting medical challenges.With more than fifty photographs showing the visible improvements that trained therapy pets are making in the lives of sick and disabled people, the compelling stories relate many inspiring incidents of the healing animal-human partnership: six-year-old Brendan, disabled from birth, successfully completes his physical therapy with the help of Zorro, a big black hound once considered unadoptable; Philip, a hospice patient in his last days, finds some joy in the company of a therapy dog named Andy; and Tikva, a Keeshond therapy dog from Oregon, helps to comfort emotionally drained firefighters at New York City's Ground Zero.For animal lovers, healthcare providers, and anyone who appreciates how animals and humans interrelate, this is a wonderful, truly inspirational book.Jacqueline J. Crawford is a clinical psychologist at Lakeland Mental Health Center in Moorhead, MN, and the lead author of Please! Teach ALL of Me: Multisensory Instruction for Preschoolers.Karen A. Pomerinke is a professional dog trainer in the state of Washington and the moderator of the pet-advice website www.greatpets.com.Donald W. Smith is a photographer, website designer, and a retired mental health counselor.