This article provides a review of research published from 1990 to 2014 year on the effect of animal-assisted therapy as an animal-assisted intervention for dementia. Animal-assisted intervention is gaining popularity as part of therapy programs in residential aged care facilities. Humans and pet dogs respond to quiet interaction with a lowering of blood pressure and an increase in neurochemicals associated with relaxation and bonding. These effects may be of benefit in ameliorating behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Current literature suggests that animal-assisted intervention may ameliorate behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, but the duration of the beneficial effect has not been explored. Future research employing more rigorous designs and systematically building upon a clearly defined line of inquiry is needed to advance our knowledge on the effect of animal-assisted intervention for dementia..

This article provides the case study report of Animal Assisted Therapy(AAT) in Hongcheon Elementary School. The program was conducted for once a week a total of 15 session form July to September and performed with 8 Students from the first grade to the fifth grade, 3 AAT therapists, 3 assistant therapists, 3 pet partners and 3 therapy dogs. The AAT program was titled as “Happy You & I with companion dogs” and performed for 3 school grade groups. The content of AAT program was designed to improve main psychological issues of students in 3 groups. 5 sessions of a total 15 sessions was conducted for a integrated group and other 10 sessions was for each group. STAIC, HTP and KFD were done as assessment scales for the first and the second grade students and Self-concept scale, CDI-C, STAIC, HTP, KFD and SCT was done for the fourth and the fifth grade students. As the results of pre-and post-test, We found the positive improvement in psychological symptoms of students.

Animal assisted therapy is a multidisciplinary program that involved experts from various fields. It can be applied widely in a variety of ways, ranging from infants to the elderly, from animal assisted activity to animal assisted therapy, up from individual counseling to group counseling. We summarizes and analysis the current literatures about the animal assisted therapy in order to theological review of the counselling and psychological programs to develop and evaluate the animal assisted therapy programs.

Animal therapy uses animals, mostly dogs, to aid in healing patients holistically. Dogs have an overwhelming gratitude and exuberance for life and this effect on people is astounding. Furthermore, animal-facilitated therapy has been researched and its effectiveness on patients’ outcomes and healing is documented, yet it continues to be a standing controversial topic in nursing and health care. With a soaring trend of the incorporation of complementary therapies into the mainstream of health care, animal-facilitated therapy has become a popular interest for the health care team to integrate into a patient’s plan of care. This systematic literature summarizes the current research on the use of animal therapy in several patient populations and provides nursing implications for practice.

The purpose of this thesis is to verify the effects of animal assisted therapy program using therapy dogs for the impulsivity of children with ADHD. The researcher conducted a survey with 3 elementary school students : 11, 12, and 13 years old male students who were diagnosed with ADHD by the ‘Children Psychological Counseling Center’ in P city in Gyeonggi-do. The program was in session, two observers recorded the specific target behaviors and created a graph and chart showing the change in hyperactivity. Due to the small sample size, it might be hard to prove the statistical significance of the results, researcher uesd qualitative data analysis to show the statistical ignificance. Comparing the Before and After test results, it shows that children's impulsivity decreases. In conclusion, animal assisted therapy program using therapy dogs could be used effectively for the therapy of impulsivity of ADHD children.

The purpose of this study was to review of animal-assisted therapy. Method: Animal-assisted therapies (AATs) in domestic and international studies (68 cases) were analyzed by searching databases, KERIS & KISS, and the Pub MED(NCBI). Result: In AATs, a few animals were used for the various disease or disorder. Dog centered therapies were most common.. AATs were used in the various disorder and disease. For the psychological effect, majority of the outcome variables were depression and anxiety. For the physical effect, the most outcome variables were blood pressure, heart rate, and stress hormone. However, These results show that AATs were confined to specific areas such as sensation‐centered therapies. Conclusion: AATs had positive effects both in physical and psychological factors even if the study areas have not been applied to the various condition. The further research is needed to identify scientific grounds for the effects of the interventions through various therapies.