Animal Assisted Activities (AAA)

Animal-Assisted Activities are basically the casual "meet and greet" activities that involve people visiting pets or pets visiting people. The same activity can be repeated with many people, unlike a therapy program that is tailored to a particular person or medical condition.

 

Example of AAA: Four-Legged-Friends brings little Daisie-Mae, our little pygmy goat, to a children's hospital or a residential home for the elderly to "play / interact" with residents. Although the staff are involved in the visits, the staff have not set specific treatment goals for the interactions. Aside from signing in and out, no individual therapy records are kept.

 

 

​Animal-Assisted Therapy (AAT)

 

AAT is a goal-directed intervention that aims to help an individual child or adult to reach specific goals to improve their physical, social, emotional and /or cognitive functioning. With regard to AAT, we are always happy to work in co-operation with hospital or private physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers, mental health workers, Carers, GPs, Consultants and any other medical / health professionals involved with the individual patient.

 

Example of AAT: A woman recovering from a stroke has limited standing and walking abilities. A physical therapist utilizes the presence of a dog or other animal to motivate the client by placing the animal on a raised table and asking the client to stand while stroking or brushing the dog’s back and head.