Animal companionship is thought to make a positive contribution to health, health behaviors and the general well-being of older people. More specifically companion animal ownership is often proposed as a solution to the problem of loneliness and decreased sociality etc in later life and specific 'companion animal based' interventions have been developed to combat the problems of elderly people. The aim of this paper is to review the association between animal companionship and the problems of elderly people like as the decreased self-esteem and depression by exploring if companion animal ownership is a response to, or protection against, the problems of elderly people. We summarizes and analysis the current literatures about the effects of animal companionships on the self-esteem and depression of elderly people.

• 유지선(원광대학교 보건보완의학 대학원 동물매개심리치료 전공) | Ji-Sun Yu
• 김옥진(원광대학교 보건보완의학 대학원 동물매개심리치료 전공, 원광대학교 동물자원개발연구센터) | Okjin Kim Corresponding author