Although numerous anecdotes exist on the benefits of companion animals (from service and therapy animals to family pets) on human health, in-depth studies have been rare. Now, according to the New York Times, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is spearheading a new effort to determine whether these animals can have a tangible effect on the well-being of children.
Michal Czerwonka/The New York Times
Tommy Conforti, a cancer patient, and Lady, a therapy dog.
In partnership with the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition in England (part of the Mars candy and pet food company), the child health institute is seeking proposals that “focus on the interaction between humans and animals.”
In particular, it is looking for studies on how these interactions affect typical development and health, and whether they have therapeutic and public-health benefits. It also invites applications for studies that “address why relationships with pets are more important to some children than to others.”
People who are currently working with animals are confident that the research will back up their own observations. At Children’s Hospital of Orange County in Southern California, for example, volunteers regularly take their dogs to visit patients. Children being treated for serious illnesses often suffer from anxiety or depression and the dogs are known to visibly “brighten them up.”
Some patients who have refused to speak will talk to the dogs, while others who have refused to move will reach for the dogs so they can pet them. For these reasons, animals have become an important part of the therapeutic program, especially in the areas involving speech and movement.
“The human-animal bond bypasses the intellect and goes straight to the heart and emotions and nurtures us in ways that nothing else can,” said Karin Winegar, whose book “Saved: Rescued Animals and the Lives they Transform” (Da Capo, 2008) chronicles human-animal interactions.
How have your own children benefited from having pets?
Posted By: Amelia Glynn (Email) | October 07 2009 at 12:37 PM
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