Could Animal Assisted Intervention be implemented in public health programs? Maria Rosaria Gualano

Background

The therapeutic use of animals was argued for decades, considering different settings and target populations. Moreover, Animal Assisted Intervention (AAI) could be considered a cost effective way to support other treatments worldwide. Our review aims to focus benefits of animal programs for hospitalized patients, considering as well the risks.

Methods

We followed PRISMA guidelines, considering the following databases: PubMed, Scopus, PsychInfo, Ebsco Animals, PROQUEST, Web of Science, CINAHL, and MEDLINE. We included all the papers considering effectiveness or risks of animal use in hospitals.

Results

The conclusive selection returned 36 sources. Five studies focused on the AAI for psychiatric inpatients (four were Randomized Clinical Trials) while eight papers referred to pet therapy in pediatric hospitals. In addition, six articles evaluated the impact of the AAI in elderly inpatients. The animal-intervention programs presented various benefits like reducing stress, pain and anxiety. Other outcomes considered were: vital signs, hemodynamic measures and nutritional intake. Even if most studies used dogs, other animals were effectively employed such as horses, fishes, cats and cage birds. The major risks outlined were allergies, infections and animal-related accidents. Not only zoonosis could be a risk, but also other common infections as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. However, the implementation of simple hygiene protocols consented an effective risk minimization; then, literature concluded that benefits overhang by far risks.

Conclusions

The relationship with animals can be useful for inpatients but it is important to select patients in order to minimize risks, particularly those infection-related. Since many European Countries recently produced guidelines on AAI, more efforts are needed to implement such programs in public health interventions in effective and safe ways.

Key messages:

• Interactions with animals seem to influence positively hospitalized patients but more efforts are needed to implement such programs in public health interventions in effective and safe ways

• Since an accurate knowledge is essential to implement effective strategies in hospital, further studies are needed to address this issue