The role of animal-assisted therapy in natural healing and human rehabilitation (a literature review)

A current topic in animal-assisted therapy is the preservation and improvement of human health. Animal therapy (also known as zootherapy or pet therapy) is a type of therapy that involves interactions between patients and animals to improve overall human health and alleviate symptoms of various diseases. It is an interdisciplinary approach that combines elements of psychology, veterinary medicine, and social work. In recent years, the number of studies dedicated to the effects of interactions with animals has significantly increased. However, it still remains unclear how exactly animal-assisted therapy works and how important the presence of the animal itself is in the therapeutic process. Animal-assisted therapy (AST), or animal-assisted interventions (AAI), refers to methods that use animals as tools to improve a person’s physical, psychological, and social well-being, as well as to achieve educational and developmental goals. This paper presents the results of a review of current literature sources and provides an analysis of the challenges associated with the therapeutic use of animals. The key question examined in this review is: how is the human–animal bond measured? As a result of searches on platforms such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar and ResearchGate, only peer-reviewed primary studies reporting on indicators of human–animal interaction, relationships, and bonds were included in the analysis. Most of the selected studies contained information on what exactly was measured (interaction, relationship, or bond), which methods were used, and the general context (experimental settings involving therapy animals). In the majority of cases, behavioral analysis methods were applied to study the interaction between participants (recipients) and therapeutic animals. Additionally, the review summarized previously published hypotheses regarding the working mechanisms of animal-assisted therapy. Using content analysis, control conditions in the studies were categorized to distinguish between specific and non-specific factors influencing the effectiveness of animal-assisted interventions.